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'.'Jyii'Cil^titlT
Mot 5-3.1
Case Shelf
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
OF THE
PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN
AROflJEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY.
EXCHANGE WITH
Received^ 4xU.S, 1^08'.
">i
MEMOIR S
>?n
' UM
OF 'tBA
ERNICE PAUAIII BISHOP MUSEUM
UF
POLYNESIAN ETHNOLOGY AND
NATURAL HISTORY
VOL. II — NO. 3
The Ancient Hawaiian House
BY WILLIAI T. B816HAM, A.H.,Sc.D. >Colainbl>)
HKNOLltU, n. I.
Bishop Mubsum Prbss
190)}
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
HciiJiv HaLMES * ■>,*#• Hnrftidvnt
ALiiiutt* F, JuDi> *...*.*.- Vice-President and Siicmliity
Josnt^ft O. Cajitk^ ♦••,,»•,.•♦ +,<^»r** Trettsutei
SAMtmt M. Dauok, Wiujam O. Smito, E. Fajiok Bibuup
MUSEUM STAFF
WttJJAM T. BRYGfiAif, A.M:., ScD^CColtinibia) .*.-.. Oifeaor
WiXif J AM H* DAi.Lt Ph-D * Hotiomyy Ctiralor of Monusca
John F. G. Stokk- GufmlOTOl Folyoeaian Klmology
C. MoNTAOtn; CoocB, Jn.i^ Fv.0. (YiJe}. • Cumbor of PuInioaiiU
Otto II* SwtOE&v * i.. « .^ . « . * Iloummry Cora tor ol Bntomoloey
CuA&. N. P0RBH2> * ,.»:r---»« As&bitaGt in Boiaoy
Mrs€ B, Scuui'i* ...»*. *.- - .** .1.. Librariiiu
JoilH W- TliOMfSOK • P ArttM and JAmltltt
Joinr J- C]£iiGprii • .-.-,.* - Priuiei
A* K. Williams «««* . . jtinlLor
Mo'mfi KA1/A112 p * . •.^. . p . • Assistaiit Janstor
THE ANCIENT HAWAIIAN HOUSE
BY WILLIAM T BRIGHAM, A.M.. ScD. (Columbia).
MEMOIRS OF THE BERNICE PAUAM BISHOP MUSEUM
OF POLYNESIAN ETHNOLOGY AND
NATURAL HISTORY
Volume n. Number 3
HONOLULU, H. I.
Bishop Museum Press
1908
/>1uS S"!*. J
LIST OF PLATES.
XVIII. Pagopaj^^o Harbor near entrance. Photo, by
Josiah Martin.
XIX. King's house at Mbau, Fiji. Waitovu village,
Ovalau, Fiji. J. W. Lindt.
XX. , Na Kali, Viti Levu Bay, Fiji. Fijian house
with fence at door. J. W. Lindt.
XXI. Maori carved house.
XXII. Maori carvings.
XXIII. New Hebridean huts.
XXIV. Communal house, New Guinea.
XXV. High house, New Guinea.
XXVI. Hawaiian house framing.
XXVII. Hawaiian house thatching.
XXVIII. Hawaiian house completed.
XXIX.
Hawaiian cords.
XXX.
Ipu holoi lima.
XXXI.
Ipu aina with inserted teeth.
XXXII.
Ipu kuha = Spittoons.
XXXIII.
Gourd bottles for fish lines.
XXXIV.
Hawaiian stirrers and knives.
XXXV.
Carved articles from Hawaii in the British
Museum.
XXXVI.
Na ipu pawehe : decorated gourd vessels.
XXXVII.
Carved coconuts.
XXXVIII
. Hawaiian umeke laau No. 9530.
XXXIX.
Umeke.
XL.
Umeke.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15-
16.
17-
18.
19-
20.
21.
22.
23-
24.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
PAGE
Honolulu from the foot of Punchbowl in 1837. 5 31.
Drawn by Edward Bailey 3 32.
Marquesan village: Voyage de la Venus, PI. 20. 33.
House of the Tahitian queen 6 34.
Tahitian village. Photo. J. Martin 7 35.
Parkinson's drawing of a chief's house 8 36.
Tongan interior : from Voyage de 1' Astrolabe, 37.
PL 75 9 38.
Tongan pillow in Bishop Museum 11 39.
Wood stools in Bishop Museum 12 40.
Drinking kava in Tonga. Cook, III Voyage, 41.
PL 20 14 42.
Samoan house 15
Samoan interior 16 43.
Samoan palace 17 44'
Samoan pillows 17 45*
Samoan house completely open 18 46.
Samoan temples : from Stair 19 47.
Interior of NGaraningiou's house 20 48.
Modern Fijian house 21 49.
Fijian pillows 22 50.
Sections of Fijian houses 23 51.
Sinnet ornamentation 24 52.
Door of Fijian house to show pent. Present- 53.
ing a whale's tooth to a chief 25 54.
Mbure in Mbau: 27 55.
Maori hut 31 56.
Poupou and Tukutuku in Maori Whare 32 57.
A Maori house 33 58.
Entrance of a modern carved house 34 59.
Teketeko from Maori gable 35 60.
Group of gable images in the Bishop Museum. 36 61.
Pa taka in the Auckland Museum 37 62.
Poupou from Maketu 38 63.
(iii)
PAGE
A Maori mythical form on a house slab 38
Interior of a Maori house, Rotorua 39
Doorway of Pataka 40
Central slab of Pataka 40
New Zealanders carving a Poupou 41
Scene on Ataf u. Drawn by T. E. Agate 42
Coconut grove and house on Fakaafo 43
Large Mariapu at Uteroa 44
Interior of Mariapu 45
Model of a Maiana house 46
Model of a Kusaian chief's house 47
Gable of a Kusaian house. Drawn by L. G.
Blackman 48
Woven walls of a Nine house 50
A New Guinea village 51
A village street in New Guinea 52
Sacred house at Dorei. From D'Urville 53
Village on Duau 54
House in Milne Bay, New Guinea 55
New Guinea pillows 56
Long house in New Guinea 57
A tree house in New Guinea 58
Tree houses in New Guinea 59
Club house (Dubu) for young men 60
House front in Kiriwina 61
A Kiriwina village 62
Original type of Aneiteum hut. Lawrie 63
Aneiteum hut with reed front. Lawrie 63
A village in Malekula. Lawrie 64
Thatching a house in the N. Hebrides. Lawrie. 65
New Caledonian house 66
Solomon Islands house 67
Pile dwellings in Pauro Island. Guppy 68
An Australian hut « 71
IV
Illustrations.
PAGB
64. View made on Kauai by Cook*s artist Weber. 73
65. Houses of Kalaimoku on Honolulu 74
66. House vat which Keelikolani died at Kailua,
Hawaii 80
67. Hakakau for suspending calabashes 81
68. Hawaiian pump-drill 85
69. Ball of braided grass 86
70. Polynesian sennit in native rolls 87
71 . Diagrams of house forms 88
72. Hale Kamani at Lahaina 89
73. The pou of a house 90
74. Pou from Waialua 91
75. Pou from Waialua ; another view 91
76. Diagram of house plan 92
77. Upper end of rafter 93
78. Upper side of lower end of rafter 93
79. Under side of lower end of rafter 93
80. Lower end of rafter 93
81. Junction of rafters 94
82. Junction of rafters and post 94
83. House near Hilo needing new thatch. C. Fur-
neaux 95
84. House in Puna with lanai 96
85. Grass house with net over it 98
86. House with kapu sign before door 100
87. Grass house of the poorer sort. C. Furneaux. loi
88. Hawaiian village on Niihau. W. Ellis 105
89. House on the beach at Kealakeakua in 1888. . 106
90. Ellis' view of houses at Kealakeakua, 1779. • • ^^
91. Village on Hawaii. W.Ellis 107
92. Hale kauila in Honolulu, du Petit Thouars. 108
93. Street view in Honolulu with Kinau in the
foreground, du Petit Thouars 109
94. House of Kamehameha V, Waikiki: Hale lama 1 10
95. House of Kamehameha V at Kaunakakai, Mo-
lokai m
96. House at Kaimu, Hawaii 112
97. Old Volcano House. Painted by H.Hitchcock. 113
98. Maori fire-making ! . . 115
99. Hawaiian tools for fire-making 1 16
100. Poi-making at Halawa, Molokai, 1888 124
loi. Uluna or pillows 125
102. Stone pillow from Kilauea, Kauai 126
103. Kapa beaters 127
104. Laau kui kapa 128
105. Laau lomilomi and bath rubbers 129
106. Kukuinut candles 131
107. Stone lamps 132
io8. Stone mortar 133
109. Poi board and pounders 134
no. Poi boards 134
111. Bearing the poi of an Alii 135
112. Hawaiian hay dealer in 1864 136
113. Ends of Hawaiian auamo in Bishop Museum. 137
1 14. Gourd containers 138
1 15. Bottle gourd : huewai 13S
1 16. Mended ipu 139
117. Gourd box 140
1 18. Long gourd boxes 140
119. Gourd hula drums 141
PAGE
120. Gourd water bottles for canoes 142
121. Compressed gourd water bottle 143
122. Gourd funnels 144
123. A wa strainer 145
124. Huewai pawehe 146
125. Gourd implements 147
126. Coconut cups 148
127. Coconut spoons and ladles 148
128. Marquesan carved cup of coconut 149
129. Modern coconut cup of the Hawaiians 150
130. Solomon Islands inlaid cup 151
131. Fijian cup and wiper 152
132. Micronesian water bottles 153
133. Solomon Islands coconut bottles 154
134. Coconut tobacco boxes 154
135. Coconut cups of the high chiefs 154
136. Umeke No. 416 155
137. Umeke No. 417 156
138. Umeke No. 410 157
139. Umeke opaka of kou wood, Nos. 6003, 6004. 158
140. Blocks partly shaped perhaps a century ago. 159
141. Opaka or polyhedral umeke, Nos. 523,462,488. 160
142. Deep umeke 161
143. Umeke Nos. 469 and 481 162
144. Umeke No. 1049 162
145. Umeke No. 2291 162
146. Umeke Nos. 557 and 433 163
147. Modern turned umeke Nos. 591, 566, 524, 589. 163
148. Comparative size and shape of umeke 162
149. Umeke of kou, Nos. 9199 and 9215 164
150. Umeke of unusual form, Nos. 475, 440, 1143.. 165
151. Umeke Nos. 537 and 484 166
152. Umeke Nos. 517, 538 and 516 166
153. Umeke No. 4673, with lugs for suspension... 167
154. Umeke with cover. No. 420 168
155. Hawaiian pa or dishes 169
156. Lute-shaped bowls 170
157. Large Hawaiian dishes with legs 171
158. Kanoa awa 171
159. Umeke of Kamehameha I 172
160. Dishes with compartments 173
161. Umeke No. 1050 173
162. Carved Hawaiian dishes Nos, 5181 and 408.. . 174
163. Maori dish 1 74
164. Hawaiian carved dish in Leiden Museum 175
165. Long platters from the Deverill collection. . . 176
166. Long platters 177
167. Broad platters 1 77
168. Outlines of typical Hawaiian umeke 178
169. Finger bowl in Berlin 182
170. Ipu holoi lima or finger bowls 183
171 . Finger bowl with grit holder 183
172. Ipu aina or slop basins 184
173. Hawaiian mirrors, end of eighteenth century. 188
174. Sketch of Hawaiian mirror in British Mu-
seum 188
175. Uhi kahiolona : Scrapers 190
176. Ipu le'i for fishhooks and lines 191
177. Hawaiian bow and arrow, and broom 192
178. Wooden stools in Bishop Museum 193
THE ANCIENT HAWAIIAN HOUSE.
Housebuildmg of the old Hawaiia^is: with a desa'iption of the articles used
iji housekeeping. By William T. Brigham, Sc. D. (Columbia), Director of the
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum,
IN pursuance of my intention to describe, so far as known to me, the life, manners
and customs of the ancient Hawaiians, I have described the feather ornaments,
stone implements, and mat and basket work, and now come to the dwellings of the
early inhabitants of the Hawaiian Group: and in considering this exceeding import-
ant matter of aboriginal life I propose to glance briefly at the primitive habitations of
some of the other Poljmesian groups and of their neighbors of the Papuan and mixed
races. While this course will take us from Rapanui in the East of the Pacific Ocean
to New Guinea in the West, I will limit my descriptions (where they are not limited by
my ignorance of the subject) and illustrations as much as possible to the material which
seems in some degree to illuminate the main subject of Hawaiian housebuilding.
To the empt}^ dwelling I have found it convenient to add the usual furniture
and utensils which are a necessary part of housekeeping, and although "pots and
kettles" are absent, Polynesians having neither metal nor earthen ware, we shall find
the better class of Hawaiians were provided with many articles of necessity, even of
luxury and elegance, although it will be seen that the common people, the makaainana^
had little furniture for comfort, and only the merest necessities for housekeeping.
Illustrations have been drawn from the early voyages and, where fashions have
not changed by the coming of white settlers, from my large coUedlion of photographs
of existing dwellings from nearly every part of the Pacific that the photographer
has invaded.
Primitive architedlure may be studied in the Pacific region (where the indige-
nous architecture has always remained primitive), from the habitations of the troglo-
dytes, where man's hand has hardly modified the natural cavities of the rock formation,
through the exceeding simple bark lean-to of the Australian, the cyclopean struAures
of the Metalanim in the Carolines, the imbedded stone cells of Rapanui, the columned
halls of Tinian in the Marianes, the trilithon of Tonga, the elaborately carved whare
MsMoms B. P. B. Museum, Voi*. II, No. 3.— i. L ^^5 J
2 The Ancient Hawaiian House,
of New Zealand, and the ephemeral houses of sticks and grass, plain as possible in the
Hawaiian group, pidluresqiie in parts of Micronesia and fantastic in New Guinea.
The temptation is strong to explore and study more fully the curious stone
remains found in many places in the Pacific from Rapanui in the southeast to Tinian
in the northwest, and although the evidence that these were the work of the ancestors
of the races at present found in the great ocean seems preponderant, they need claim
only a passing glance here for they, together with the stone temples of Hawaii, belong
to religious or monumental construAions, and we are to limit this excursus to those
materials that may be explanatory of the origin or affinity of the Hawaiian dwelling.
In Central America we find wonderful strudlures of stone buried in forests almost
as dense as the veil which shrouds their origin or uses, but we recognize that the
houses of the people who built and used these temples, palaces, monasteries or charnel
houses, and who must have dwelt in the neighborhood, were constructed of more perish-
able material and have left no record. In Egypt the same is true ; the houses of the
gods and of the dead are of durable masonry and material, syenite, limestone, alabaster,
while the houses of the people, even the palaces of the Pharaohs were flimsily con-
structed of wood and have perished save in the pictured stories on the walls of the
tombs. The American record in the wonderful painted books which doubtless would
have given much light on Maya domestic architecture was mostly destroyed by the
fanatic priests who swarmed in the invading armies, — deadly foes to knowledge, — may
their souls repent the evil they did ! Everywhere the same thing is true of domestic
archite<5lure in primitive times and in lands with a mild climate; if the people did not
dwell in tents they certainly had houses of not much greater durability.
In the Pacific we still have "samples" of the houses which probably have not
changed much from the earliest times, but the lumber and building methods of the
foreigner are rapidly driving out even these samples from those groups most open to
outside influence. On the Hawaiian Islands forty years ago grass houses were verj^
common outside the larger towns, and even in Honolulu they were found on some of
the principal streets. In this town in 1837 they were almost universal as seen in a
view of Honolulu drawn by the late Edward Bailey from the foot of Punchbowl Hill
and engraved at Lahainaluna under the instruc^lion of Judge Lorin Andrews (Fig. i).
Todaj^ we have had to gather into the Bishop Museum an ancient house frame, and
the tourist may make the usual circuit of the group and never see an example of a
genuine Hawaiian house, although in several places Japanese have built grass houses
resembling the native work externally.
The boards and plans of the foreigner result in a cheaper, more convenint, and
more durable house than those of the olden style, so the latter are passing and it seems
. [i86l
Variatio7is on the Groups, 3
desirable to make a record of their existence and nature, and at the same time compare
them with other dwellings in our region. No limitation can be made to the striAly
Polynesian tribes, for there is more difference between the Maori and Hawaiian houses,
both Polynesian, than between the Hawaiian and the New Caledonian, the latter the
work of a very different race. It will then be desirable, if not needful, to present to
the readers of this essay types of the principal forms of dwelling houses of the Pacific
islanders before entering upon the structure, uses and situation of the Hawaiian houses.
JtOWf>LUXO
L^
FIG. I. VIEW OF HONOLULU IN 1837.
Even where the material is the same, sticks and thatch, the ground plan varies between
island groups while on each group one form is predominant if not exclusive. Thus
on Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand and New Guinea a rectangular plan prevailed,
on Samoa and Tonga the ellipse and in New Caledonia the circle were preferred. The
Hawaiians certainly built temples with a circular ground plan, but so far as can be
learned never a dwelling house. Single habitations were more common in the East,
communal in the West of the Pacific region, yet in Hawaii the hospitality of the
people made their private home almost a caravansary. In some groups, as in Hawaii,
an establishment of a chief or well-to-do man consisted of several detached houses
each for an especial use ; in others there were houses (or cages) for girls of marriageable
[187]
4 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
age ; in others guest houses ; and common to many groups were the lodging houses
for unmarried males.
The material for a study of the oldest habitations of the Pacific immigrants
must be gathered from the accounts, sometimes excellent, of the old voyagers and in
these we shall find little change through the century these voyages praAically cover,
for the early Spanish and Portuguese explorers have not given sufiiciently definite
descriptions of the houses of the people they discovered. As the good descriptions of
houses are scattered through accounts of voyages not always accessible, it seems well
to transcribe them here with such illustrations as the authors have given us. In some
cases, as in the accounts of the Marquesan houses it would seem possible to reconstruct
the homes of the fine natives who have long since disappeared from the beautiful val-
leys where they once thronged to their cannibal feasts.
In the voyage of the Duff," the first missionary expedition to the Pacific from
England, are given detailed accounts of the houses in Tahiti, Tonga and the Marquesas
which will be here reproduced from that very interesting volume. On page 131 we
find this account of a Marquesan house on the island of Santa Cristina (Tahuata):
To convey an idea of what this and all their best built houses are like, it is only necessary to
imagine one of our own of one story high with a high peaked roof ; cut it lengthwise exactly down
the middle, you would then have two of their houses, only built of different materials. That we now
occupied was twenty-five feet long and six wide, ten feet high in the back part, and but four in front;
at the corners four short stakes are driven into the earth, on which are laid horizontal pieces, and
from these last to the ground are bamboos neatly arranged in perpendicular order, about half an inch
distant from each other ; and without them long blinds made with leaves are hung, which make the
inside very close and warm ; the door is about the middle on the low side. They do not use the
leaves of the wharra [I^andanus] tree here for roofing, as at Otaheite, but common broad leaves which
they lay as thick as to keep the water out ; but the greater part of their houses are miserable hovels.
The inside furniture consisted of a large floor mat from end to end, several large calabashes, some
fishing tackle, and a few spears ; at one end the chief kept his ornaments which he showed to us.
A generation later the Marquesans were visited by a more observant missionary
whose account of the houses, while showing that the style remained the same, leaves little
to be desired. The Rev. C. S. Stewart, well known on these islands, wrote as follows:
The houses — though of very different sizes, from twenty to one hundred feet in length, from
eight to sixteen in height, and from ten to fourteen and sixteen in breadth — are all of one shape and
style, and vary materially in their form and construction from those of the Sandwich Islanders.
Here the roofs, instead of descending to eaves on both sides of the ridgepole, have rafters in
front only, while the back of the house descends perpendicularly, or in very slight inclination, from
the peak to the ground — giving to the exterior the appearance of an ordinary hut cut lengthwise in
two. They are universally erected, so far as I have observed, on a platform of rough, but in many
* A Missionary Voyage to the Southern Pacific Ocean, performed in the years 1796-1798 in the Ship Duff com-
manded by Captain James Wilson. Compiled from Journals of the OflBcers and the Missionaries ; and illustrated with
Maps, Charts, and Views drawn by Mr. William Wilson and engraved by the most eminent Artists, etc. London, 1799.
[188]
Marquesan Houses. 5
cases massive stone-work, from one to four feet in height, which extends two or three feet beyond the
area of the house. The rafters descend in front to a plate or timber extending the whole length of
the house, supported by a row of thick round pillars, from three to five feet in height, over wiiich
the eaves project sufficiently to screen the entrance from the weather.
At the peak the rafters rest on a similar stick of timber, supported by two or more posts, from
eight to fourteen feet in height. The space between them is filled with poles of bamboo, or of the
light wood of the hibiscus, laid parallel, two or three inches apart over which lighter sticks are placed
horizontally, at regular intervals ; the whole being neatly lashed together at the points of intersection.
FIG. 2. MARQUESAN VILLAGE (FROM VOYAGE OF THE VENUS, PL. 20).
The back and ends are filled up in the same manner, and thus prepared for the external covering.
This is of thatch composed either of the leaf of the breadfruit tree, the cocoanut, or palmetto, Chama-
rops humilis \^Pritchardia pacljica] — all of which are prepared for this purpose in different methods.
Th6 cocoanut leaf is from twelve to sixteen feet long and deeply feathered on either side of the rib
running through the middle of it. This rib or stem is split from end to end, and the leaflets on each
braided closely together, forming a matting of that length, and one and a half or two feet in breadth.
Thus prepared, they are placed on the rafters double, the higher ranges lapping over the lower in
the manner of slates or shingles.
The leaf of the breadfruit is two feet in length, one and more in width, and deeply indented.
It is prepared for thatching by stringing the leaves as closely as possible upon a rod of light wood, ten
or twelve feet long and half an inch in diameter, through a slit made in the stem of each leaf ; it is
then attached to the roof and sides in the same manner as the cocoanut, and forms a more durable
and better thatch.
But the palmetto affords the most valued covering, and that most used — especially for the
roof —wherever found in sufficient abundance. Its fan-like leaves are fastened one by one, with their
[189]
6 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
centres about a foot from each other, upon long, split pieces of the hibiscus, which are then ranged
upon the roof, sixteen or eighteen inches apart, and, thus disposed, lap considerably every way. over
each .other. All these kinds of thatch, instead of becoming dark and sunburnt, like the grass of the
Sandwich Islands huts, bleach beautifully ; and when seen at a distance, gleam among the groves,
in the brightness of the day, like neatly whitened cottages in our own country.
The fronts of the habitations are seldom thatched. Sometimes they are entirely open ; in
which case the timber supporting the roof, and the pillars beneath, are generally neatly hewn and
ornamented by braids of sennit of various colors, white, black, yellow, etc., tied on in horizontal
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stripes, in diamonds or in checks, in a pretty and fanciful manner. In most of the houses, however,
the front is composed of bamboos, lashed horizontally to the pillars, at intervals of an inch or two, or
in lattice-work, for the admission of light ; in which case there is a small door in the middle, fur-
nished with a shutter, in a slide, to be closed or opened at pleasure.
In every house the internal arrangement is the same. A smooth trunk of a cocoanut tree ex-
tends the whole length, a foot or two from the farther side. At an interval of about four feet another
lies parallel to it ; and the space between, spread with grass and covered with mats, constitutes the
bed of the whole family and household — the innermost log forming a general pillow, and the second
a support for the lower limbs, which extend over it. The rest of the area is a paved floor — a foot or two
above the platform without — upon which they partake of their meals and perform their indoor work.
Calabashes of food and water — wooden bowls and trays — some stone adzes with other rude
implements — numerous spears and war-clubs — and a few muskets sticking in the thatch — constituted
the furniture of the establishment.*
^Charles S. Stewart.— A Visit to the South Seas in 1829-30. New York, 1831. I, p. 233.
L190J
Marquesan and Tahttian Houses. 7
Now Cook speaks of the Marquesan houses that he saw at Tahuata (Santa
Cristina of his voyage) in by no means so eulogistic tone. He says '?
Their dwellings are in the valHes and on the sides of the hills, near their plantations. They
are built after the same manner as at Otaheite ; but are much meaner, and only covered with the
leaves of the bread tree. The most of them are built on a square, or oblong, pavement of stone
raised some height above the level of the ground. They likewise have such pavements near their
houses, on which they sit to eat and amuse themselves.
FIG. 4. TAHITIAN VILLAGE.
Not a word about the most marked peculiarity of the last description — the
halved form shown in Fig. 2. The platforms are also shown in that figure. This is
the more remarkable as Cook was usually quick to notice any strange thing, and this
manner of building he found nowhere else in the Pacific.
Society Islands^ Tahiti. — From the savage tempered and warlike Marquesan
we turn to the indolent, pleasure loving Tahitian. The one a cannibal, the other
loving his fellows in a different way. Cook had more time to study the Tahitians,
and he certainly gives us a pleasapt picfture :*
^Cook, Second Voyage. I, p. 310.
^Cook, Journal (printed verbatim), July, 1769, p. 96.
[191]
8
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
The Houses or dwellings of these People are admirably calculated for the continual warmth
of the Climate ; they do not build them in Towns or Villages, but seperate each from the other, and
always in the Woods, and are without walls, so that the air, cooled by the shade of the Trees, has
free access in whatever direction it happens to blow. No country can boast of more delightful walks
than this ; the whole Plains where the natives reside are covered with groves of Bread Fruit and
Cocoa Nut Trees, without underwood, and intersected in all directions by the Paths which go from
House to House, so that nothing can be more grateful in a Climate where the sun hath so powerful
FIG. 5. TAHITIAN CHIEF'S HOUSE. ^
an influence. They are generally built in form of an Oblong square, the Roofs are supported by
3 Rows of Pillars or Posts, and neatly covered with Thatch made of Palm leaves. A middle-siz'd
house is about 24 ft. by 12, extream heigth about 8 or 9, and heigth of the Eves 3>^ or 4. The floors
are cover'd some inches deep with Hay, upon which, here and there, lay matts for the convenience
of sitting down ; few houses has more than one Stool, which is used only by the Master of the family.
[See Fig. 8.]
In their houses are no rooms or Partitions, but they all huddle and Sleep together ; yet in this
they generally observe some order, the Married people laying by themselves, and the unmarried each
sex by themselves, at some distance from each other. Many of the Eares or Chiefs are more private,
having small movable houses in which they Sleep, man and Wife, which, when they go by Water
from place to place, are tied upon their canoes ; these have walls made of Cocoa-Nut leaves, etc.
I have said that the houses are without walls, but this is only to be understood in general, for many
opiate VI of Parkinson's Journal.
[192]
Tahiti in Cook^s Time, 9
of them are walled with wickering but not so close but to admit a free circulation of Air. The matts
which ser\'^e them to sit upon in the daytime are also their beds in the night, and the Cloathes they
wear in the day serve for covering, a little wood Stool, block of wood, or bundle of Cloth for a Pillow.
Besides these common houses there are others much larger, 200 feet long and upwards, 30 broad, and
20 in heigth. There are generally two or three of these in every district, and seem*d not only built
for the accommodation of the principal people, but common to all the inhabitants of that district, and
raised and kept up by their joint labour ; these are always without walls, and have generally a large
Area on one side neatly enclosed with low pallisades, etc.
FIG. 6. TONGAN INTERIOR (VOVAGK DE L' ASTROLABE, PL. 75).
With Cook was the young artist Parkinson (who did not live to complete the
voyage), and he gives us a pic^lure of the house of a Tahitian chief which is so remark-
able a deviation from Polynesian domestic architecture that, were it not for his accuracy
of draughtmanship in other things, might be treated as a creature of his imagination.
He gives no description but the view shows clearly the outside of a high house with a
barrel-vaulted roof.^ The framing seems to be on the outside and the thatch within.
The **Area on one side" which Cook mentions is clearly shown (Fig. 5).
* Parkinson says in a note: Taotahau's house is one hundred and twenty yards long, and twenty yards broad:
the roof is supported by twenty posts each nineteen feet high." Parkinson's Journal, p. 55.
[193]
lo The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Tongan Houses. — Abel Tasman, the discoverer of the Tongan Group which
the next visitor, Cook, called Friendly Islands, gives us no description of the houses
on this cluster of comparatively low islands, and we must look to Cook fcJr the needed
information. Now the Tongans are peculiarly situated, for while the racial affinities
are all with the Tahitians, their commercial dealings were chiefly with the Fijians, a
race usually considered a cross between the Polynesian and some darker strain, whether
Melanesian or Papuan. Hence it is interesting to find what we can of their dwellings.
We must begin with Cook. Speaking of the houses on Namuka he says :^
Some here differ from those I saw at the other isles ; being inclosed or walled on every side
with reeds neatly put together but not close. The entrance is by a square hole about two and a half
feet each way. The form of these houses is an oblong square ; the floor or foundation every way
shorter than the eve, which is about four feet from the ground. By this construction, the rain that
falls on the roof, is carried off from the wall ; which otherwise would decay and rot.
On his third and last voyage (1784) Cook again saw the Tongan group and he
gives us his final impressions. Probably with his seamanship he disapproved of so
many bare spars in the interior of the Tongan house, although he admits thej^ are
judiciously arranged : ^
It is remarkable that these people, who, in many things, shew much taste and ingenuity,
should shew little of either in building their houses ; though the defect is rather in the design, than
in the execution. Those of the lower people are poor huts, scarcely sufficient to defend them from
the weather, and very small. Those of the better sort are larger and more comfortable; but not
what we might expect. The dimensions of one of a middling size, are about thirty feet long, twenty
broad, and twelve high. Their house is, properly speaking, a thatched roof or shed, supported by
posts and rafters, disposed in a very judicious manner. The floor is raised with earth smoothed, and
covered with strong, thick matting, and kept very clean. The most of them are closed on the weather
side (and sometimes more than two thirds round), with strong mats, or with branches of the cocoa-
nut tree, plaited or woven with each other. These they fix up edgewise, reaching from the eaves to
the ground ; and thus they answer the purpose of a wall. A thick strong mat, about two and one
half or three feet broad, bent into the form of a semicircle, and set upon its edge, with the ends
touching the side of the house, in shape resembling the fender of a fire hearth, incloses a space for
the master and mistress of the family to sleep in. * * * * * The rest of the family sleep upon
the floor, wherever they please to lie down, the unmarried men and women apart from each other.
Or, if the family be large, there are small huts adjoining, to which the servants retire in the night:
so that privacy is as much observed here, as one could expect. They have mats made on purpose
for sleeping on ; and the clothes that they wear in the day, serve for their covering in the night.
Their whole furniture consists of a bowl or two, in which they make kava; a few gourds ; cocoa-nut
shells ; some small wooden stools, whieh serve them for pillows ; and perhaps a large stool for the
Chief or Master, of the family to set upon. (Fig. 8.)
Cook's description is illustrated indirectly by a drawing representing the cere-
monious Awa Drinking, which is here reproduced, as it shows well the judicious ar-
rangement of the supporting beams of which the great navigator speaks.
'Cook's Second Voyage. II, p. 21.
•Cook's Third Voyage, 1784. I, p. 393.
[194]
Tongan Houses.
II
Next comes the account of William Mariner, a man whose name is honored as
that of an accurate observer by all who study the Eastern Pacific. His compulsory
residence of several years on the group has given us perhaps the best account of the
daily life of that early time that we have.*^ Of Tongan
^ " ' housebuilding his words are few but to the point
and may be quoted in full :
^^ _^^^^^^^ /.a;^a fale, house-building. Every man knows how to
^Bfci^B^^^^^ ^B build a house, but those whose business it is have chiefly to
V ^H erect large houses on marly 's, consecrated houses, and dwel-
M ^^ lings for chiefs. The general form of their houses is oblong,
^k rather approaching to an oval, the two ends being closed, and
\ the front and back open ; the sloping thatched roof descend-
ing to within about four feet of the ground , which is generally
I'K;. 7. TOxXCiAN PILLOW. Supported by four posts; the larger houses by six, or somc-
FIG. 8. WOODEN STOOLS.
times more. The chief art in building a house consists in fastening the beams, &c. , strongly, with plait
of different colours, mad^ of the husk of the cocoa-nut, in such a way as to look very ornamental ; the
colours, which are black, red and yellow, being tastefully disposed. The thatch of the superior houses
is made of the dried leaves of the sugar cane, and which will last seven or eight years without requiring
repair. The thatch of the common houses is made of matting formed of the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree,
and which lasts about two or three years ; but being much easier to make than the other, it ismore
frequently used. The flooring is thus made : the ground, being raised about a foot, is beaten down
hard, and covered with the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, dried grass, or leaves of the ifi tree {Itiocarpus
edulis) : over this is laid a bleached matting, made of the young leaves of the cocoanut tree. The house
consists, as it were, but of one apartment, but which is subdivided occasionally by screens about six
or eight feet high. In case of rain, or at night, if the weather is cool, they let down a sort of blind,
'An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands. Compiled and arranged from the extensive communications
of Mr. WMUiani Mariner by John Martin, M.D. London, 1817. II, p. 279.
[195]
12
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
which is attached to the eaves of the open sides of the house : these blinds are made of long mats,
about six inches in width , one above another, and rather overlapping, and are so contrived as to draw up
by means of strings, like our Venetian blinds, and are then concealed just within the eaves. The com-
mon houses have not these blinds, but, in place of them a few mats hung up as occasion may require.
Half a century passed and we have another record of the Tongan house from a
resident of some years, and this seems to fill the few lines undrawn in the former pic-
tures. Even with the example set by King George Tubou, who delighted to build his
numerous residences of foreign material in foreign manner, the general chara<5ler of
FIG. 9. KAVA DRINKING IN TONGA ( PL. 20 OF COOK'S THIRD VOYAGE).
the Tongan house remained the same as when Cook and Mariner described it. I quote
from the interesting account of the Reverend Thomas West:'°
Nukualofa (the Capital) is intersected by tolerably wide paths, kept scrupulously free from
all rank vegetation and dirt. These paths are bounded by the neat reed fences which enclose the
abis or residential sections of the various chiefs and their retainers. These enclosures are planted
largely with useful trees, such as the bread-fruit, banana, cocoa-nut, orange, citron, shaddock, and
a variety of shrubs whose overhanging foliage effectually screens the pathways from the intense heat
of the sun. Very little order is observed in placing the numerous houses within these enclosures.
There are no regular avenues or streets. In fact a house is generally placed where it can obtain the
greatest amount of shade from overhanging trees.— a matter certainly of considerable importance in
a tropical climate. A casual visitor, therefore, can see but few dwellings even when he has entered
within the toto a, or fence of the abi; and, until he hunts them out amongst the abounding shrubbery,
he wonders where the people live.
*°Ten years in South-Central Polynesia : Being reminiscences of a personal mission to the Friendly Islands and
their Dependencies. London, 1865, p. 44.
[196]
Samoan Houses. 13
A Tonguese house suits the few necessities and easy habits of the people, but has none of the
comforts so essential to a higher type of civilization. With the exception of what may be called
public buildings, and a few of the dwellings of the chiefs of highest rank, their dimensions are small,
and they contain but two apartments. They are, however, constructed with an eye to neatness and
great strength ; and when elaborately finished in the best native style, their interior appearance is
by no means to be despised. The walls range from four to eight feet in height, and are formed
either of a single or double fencing of reeds, which, when interlaced and bound by sinnet to the
tokotuus, or stakes and posts, planted all round the eaves of the building, resembles very much strong
basket-work. These walls are sometimes made more wind and weather tight by the addition of a
lining of plaited cocoa-nut leaves ; but, at the best, they afford a sorry resistance to strong winds or
heavy rains. On the other hand, there is capital ventilation ; and perhaps that is of greater import-
ance in such a hot climate, than even freedom from the more occasional annoyances attendant upon
stormy weather. To compensate for the lowness of the walls, the roof of a Tonguese house is carried
to a considerable height. The rafters are closely set, and are generally made of the outer wood of
the cocoa-nut tree, or of the breadfruit tree, the latter of which has much the appearance of cedar
wood; and has a very pleasing and beautiful effect when nicely finished. The large beams to which
the rafters are attached, are laid along the grooved tops of high and durable posts, which reach
about half way up the entire height of roof. The inner ridgepole is usually ornamented by a pro-
fusion of sinnet wrappings of varied colors and geometrically interlaced. The roof itself is covered with
a thick thatch, made from the leaves of the sugar cane or of the bamboo, and is perfectly water-tight.
A well-built house will last a good many years ; but the thatching requires to be renewed, under the i
most favourable circumstances, about once in five years. The floor is laid with a profusion of dried
leaves, which are in turn covered over with numbers of mats made from the cocoa-nut leaf, upon which
again the finer sitting and sleeping mats are placed. No provision is made in the interior of either
native or European house for cooking conveniences. A separate building contains the kitchen
requisites, and the heat of the climate renders a fire-place in the dwelling house unnecessary. What
is wanting in the architectural beauty of these houses is amply remedied by the loveliness of the
natural bowers, from which they peep out upon the passer-by.
With all this detail of the outward appearance not a word of the method of erecting
the house. We learn, however, that there has been little or no change from the time
of Cook. The marked feature is the open nature of the structure, which was evidently
used for something more than a shelter from rain and a bedroom. Turning from Tonga
to Samoa we find the same open struAure and ground plan, although the Samoans
had by no means the close connection with the Tongans that the Fijianshad: we
shall see later that the latter built a very different house.
Samoan Houses. — In several visits to the Samoan Islands, both at Apia on
the island of Upolu and at Pagopago on the island of Tutuila I have visited native
houses and to some extent examined their structure ; I have been seated on the low^
fence that is a part of the house struAure and serves to keep out pigs and other four-
footed unwelcome visitors, and discussed with the hospitable inmates matters relating
both to the house and to its furniture, but as the evidence of foreign improvements
was incontrovertible (kerosene lamps, crockery, boards, etc.) I prefer to turn to a trust-
[197]
14
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
worthy authority on Samoan houses as on other matters relating to that group half a
century ago when the change from ancient to modern was not so perceptible. The
Rev. Geo. Turner has recorded" for us the following account of the Samoan houses:
Imagine a gigantic beehive, thirty feet in diameter, a hundred in circumference, and raised from
the ground about four feet by a number of short posts, at intervals of four feet from each other all
round, and you have a good idea of the appearance of a Samoan house. '^ The spaces between these
posts, which may be called open doors or windows, all round the house, are shut in at night [or dur-
ing stormy weather] by roughly plaited cocoa-nut leaf blinds. During the day the blinds are pulled
FIG. lO. SAMOAN HOUSE.
up' and all the interior exposed to a free current of air. The floor is raised six or eight inches with
rough stones ; then an upper layer of smooth pebbles ; then some cocoa-nut-leaf mats, and then a layer
of finer matting. Houses of important chiefs are erected on a raised platform of stone three feet
high. In the centre of the house there are two, and sometimes three, posts or pillars, twenty feet
long, sunk three feet into the ground, and extending to and supporting the ridge pole. These are
the main props of the building. The space between the rafters is filled with what they call Hbs,
viz., the wood of the bread-fruit tree, split up into small pieces, and joined together so as to form a
long rod the thickness of the finger, running from the ridge pole down to the eaves. All are kept in
their places, an inch and a half apart, by cross pieces, made fast with cinnet. The whole of this upper
cagelike work looks compact and tidy, and at the first glance is admired by strangers as being alike
novel, ingenious and neat. The wood of the bread-fruit tree, of which the greater part of the best
houses are built, is durable, and, if preserved from wet, will last fifty years.
"Nineteen Years in Polynesia: Missionary Life, Travels, and Researches in the Islands of the Pacific. Lon-
don, 1861, p. 256.
"It should be noted that the ground plan is eUiptical, not circular, as might be inferred from this description.
[198]
Turner's Samoa.
15
The thatch, also, is laid on with great care and taste ; the long dry leaves of the sugar-cane
are strung on to pieces of reed five feet long ; they are made fast to the reed by overlapping the one
end of the leaf, and pinning it with the rib of the cocoa-nut leaflet, run through from leaf to leaf hori-
zontally. These reeds, thus fringed with the sugar-cane leaves hanging down three or four feet, are
laid on, beginning at the eaves and running up to the ridge pole, each one overlapping its fellow an
inch or so, and made fast one by one with cinnet to the inside rods or rafters. Upwards of a hundred
of these reeds of thatch will be required for a single row running from the eaves to the ridge pole;
then they do another row, and so on all round the house. Two, three, or four thousand of these
FIG. II. SAMOAN INTERIOR.
fringed reeds may be required for a good sized house. This thatching if well done will last for seven
years. To collect the sugar-cane leaves, and **sew'*, as it is called, the ends on to the reeds, is the
work of the women. An active woman will sew fifty rods in a day, and three men will put up and
fasten on to the roof of the house some five hundred in a day. For coolness and ventilation nothing
beats the thatch. The great drawback is, that in gales it stands up like a field of corn, and then the
rain pours into the house. That, however, may be remedied by a network of cinnet, to keep down
the thatch, or by the native plan of covering all in with a layer of heavy cocoa-nut leaves on the
approach of a gale.
These great circular roofs are so constructed that they can be lifted bodily off the posts, and
removed anywhere, either by hand, or by a raft of canoes. But in removing a house, they generally
divide the roof into four parts, viz., the two sides, and the two ends, where there are particular joints
left by the carpenters, which can easily be untied, and again fastened. There is not a single nail in
the whole building ; all is made fast with cinnet. The arrangement of the houses in a village has
no regard whatever to order. You rarely see three houses in a line. Every one puts his house on
his little plot of ground just as the shade of the trees, the direction of the wind, the height of the
ground, etc., may suit his fancy.
[199]
i6
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
A house, after the usual Samoan fashion, has but one apartment. It is the common parlour,
dining-room, etc., by day, and the bed-room of the whole family by night. They do not, however,
altogether herd indiscriminately. If you peep into a Samoan house at midnight, you will see five or
six low oblong tents {tainaniu\ pitched (or rather strung up) here and there through the house.
They are made of native cloth, '^ five feet high, and close all round down to the mat. They shut out
the mosquitoes, and inclose a place some eight feet by five ; and these said tent-looking places may
be called the bed-rooms of the family. Four or five mats laid loosely, the one on the top of the other,
form the bed; the pillow is a piece of thick bamboo, three inches in diameter, three to five feet long, and
raised three inches from the mat by short wooden feet (Fig. 13) . After private prayer in the morning.
FIG. 12. SAMOAN PALACE.
the tent is unstrung, mats, pillow and sheet rolled together, and laid up overhead on a shelf between
the posts in the middle of the house.
These rolls of mats and bedding, a bundle or two done up in native cloth, on the same shelf in
the centre of the house, a basket, a fan or two, and a butcher's knife stuck into the thatch within
reach, a fishing net, a gun strung up along the rafters, a few paddles, a wooden chest in one corner,
and a few cocoa-nut shell water-bottles in another, are about all the things in the shape of furniture
or property you can see in looking into a Samoan house. The fireplace is about the middle of the
house. It is merely a circular hollow, two or three feet in diameter, a few inches deep, and lined
with hardened clay. It is not used for cooking, but for the purpose of lighting up the house at night.
K flaming fire, was the regular evening offering to the gods, as the family bowed the head, and the
fathers prayed for prosperity from the "gods great and small". The women collect, during the day,
a supply of dried cocoa-nut leaves, etc., which, with a little management, keep up a continued blaze
in the evening, while the assembled family group have their supper and prayer and sit together
chatting for an hour or two afterwards.
But about liouse-btiilding : it is a distinct trade in Samoa ; and perhaps, on an average, you
may find one among every three hundred men who is a master carpenter. Whenever this person
*^ Siapo or kapa beaten loosely, but still too tight to be endurable for a white man. One in the Bishop Museum
No. 2231, is heavily varnished with breadfruit gum.
[2CX)]
Samoan Hotisebuilders.
17
goes to work, he has in his train some ten or twelve, who follow him, some as journeymen, who ex-
pect payment from him, and others as apprentices, who are principally anxious to learn the trade.
If a person wishes a house built, he goes with a fine mat, worth in cash value 20s. or 30s. He tells
the carpenter what he wants, and presents him with the mat as a pledge that he shall be well paid
for his work. If he accept the mat, that also is a pledge that he will undertake the job. Nothing is
stipulated as to the cost ; that is left entirely to the honor of the employing party. At an appointed
time the carpenter comes with his staff of helpers and learners. Their only tools are a felling-axe, a
hatchet, and a small adze ; and there they sit, chop, chop, chopping, for three, six, or nine months,
it may be, until the house is finished. Of old they used stone and shell adzes.
The man whose house is being built provides the carpenters with board and lodging, and is
also at hand with his neighbors to help in bringing wood from the bush, scaffolding, and other heavy
work. It is a lasting disgrace to any one to have it said that he paid his carpenter shabbily. It
brands him as a person of no rank or respectability, and is disreputable, not merely to himself, but
FIG. 13. SAMOAN ALI OR PILLOW OF BAMBU.
to the whole family or clan with which he is connected. The entire tribe or clan is his bank. Being
connected with that particular tribe, either by birth or marriage, gives him a latent interest in all
their property, and entitles him to go freely to any of his friends to ask for help in paying his house-
builder. He will get a mat from one, worth twenty shillings ; from another he may get one more
valuable still ; from another, some native cloth worth five shillings ; from another four or six yards
of calico ; and thus he may collect, with but little trouble, two or three hundred useful articles,
worth, perhaps, forty or fifty pounds; and in this way the carpenter is generally well paid. Now
and then there will be a stingy exception ; but the carpenter, from certain indications, generally sees
ahead, and decamps with all his party, leaving the house unfinished. It is a standing custom, that
after the sides and one end are finished, the principal part of the payment be made ; and it is at this
time that a carpenter, if he is dissatisfied, will get up and walk off. A house with two sides and but
one end, and the carpenters away, is indicative. Nor can the chief to whom the house belongs em-
ploy another party to finish it. It is a fixed rule of the trade, and rigidly adhered to, that no one
will take up the work which another party has thrown down. The chief, therefore has no alterna-
tive but to go and make up matters with the original carpenter, in order to have his house decently
completed. When a house is finished, and all ready for occupation, they have their * 'house-warm-
ing' ' or, as they call it, its oven consecration; and formerly it was the custom to add on to that a dance,
for the purpose of '*treading down the beetles.''
Memoirs B. P. B. Museum. Vol. II, No. 3.-2.
[201]
i8
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Samoan temples (/^^/^-^//«= Spirit house) were built in the same manner as
ordinary houses, according to the Rev. J. B. Stair;'* but in the piAure he gives of these
structures (Fig. 15) they seem to be round rather than oval, lih^ fanua-ianu or raised
platform was high in proportion to the respect intended to be shown to the deity to
whom the temple was dedicated, or perhaps to the means of the builder. In most
FIG. 14. SAMOAN HOUSE.
cases if it was a family fane all the family were expected to help build it ; if a public
one all the village turned out and worked.
It must not be supposed that this temple was what is generally understood by
the term, a place in which to worship. A tree might be chosen as the temporary abode
of the aitu [Hawaiian akiia^^ or indeed any secluded place, but th^/ale aittc was usually
in the midst of a village and was surrounded by a low fence or hedge. The priests
entered these houses, when consulted by the people, to inquire of the god who was
supposed to be for the time immanent in the priest and to use his voice for the desired
answer. It was then a sort of oracle by which the priest doubtless profited, whether
the consultant was satisfied or mystified. The Reverend author goes on to describe a
ruin that may throw a side light on the Tongan trilithon. We shall see that the
circular plan appears again in New Caledonia. He writes (p. 228):
*^01d Samoa, by Rev. J. B. Stair, p. 226. London, 1897.
[202]
Samoan Temples.
19
One very interesting exception to the usual style of building these temples is found in the case
of a remarkable old ruin of the Fale-o-le-Fe'e (House of the Fe'e), the famous war-god of A'ana and
Faleata, the site of which became known to me a short time before leaving Samoa in 1845. This
appears to have been built in the usual Samoan style, but its ruins disclose the fact that its builders
had used stone slabs for the supporting-posts of the roof, and that it got the name of O-le-f ale-ma' a-
o-le-Fe'e (the stone house of the
Fe'e), and hence became en-
shrouded with much mystery and
wonder. I think this is the only
instance of such a departure from
the usual style of Samoan building
known in the islands.
It is uti fortunate that we
have no definite information
of the buildings or their
ruins in the Manna portion
of Samoa which is supposed
to be the cradle of the pres-
ent Samoan population; the
island Tau is still noted for
its canoe builders.
Fijian Houses.— So far
we have had Polynesian house-
building, and it may seem
strange to break the order by
omitting the most elaborate
form, that of the Maori, for
the present, and taking up the
work of an entirely different
people as the Pacific islanders
are generally classified, but my reason is not only founded on the geographical relation
of the Vitian group to those whose housebuilding has already been described, but on
the close relationship of form and manner of building, which as we shall see later on,
nearly resembles that of the Hawaiians.
It is perhaps unnecessary to go farther back than the time of the United States
Exploring Expedition (1840), for foreign influence had made lijttle, if any, change in
the manner of building dwellings, although the advance of missionary work was soon
to destroy the Fijian temples. The account of the houses as given by Captain Wilkes
[203]
FIG. 15. SAMOAN TEMPLES (FROM STAIR).
20
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
in his Narrative'^ is rather fragmentary, probably made up from the journals of the
various officers, but it gives a definite piAure of the Fijian habitation as it was, and as
it is in many parts of the great Vitian archipelago, parts of which if turned from can-
nibalism, are otherwise as they were when white men first visited the group. Captain
Hudson, the second in command, and who will also be remembered as the commander
FIG. l6. INTERIOR OF NGARANINGIOU'S HOUSE, REWA (bY A. T. AGATE).
of the Niagara in the laying of the first Atlantic cable, had been sent to amuse the
king at Rewa with fireworks, and in the rainy weather he proceeded at once to the
king's house, which is thus described :
The house is large, and in shape not unlike a Dutch barn : it is sixty feet in length and thirty
in width ; the eaves were six feet from the ground, and along each side there were three large posts,
two feet in diameter and six feet high, set firmly into the ground ; on these were laid the horizontal
beams and plates to receive the lower ends of the rafters ; the rafters rise to a ridge-pole thirty feet
from the ground, which is supported by three posts in the centre of the building. They were of
uniform size, about three inches in diameter and eighteen inches apart. The usual thick thatch was
in this case very neatly made. The sides of the house were of small upright reeds, set closely to-
gether. All the fastenings were of sennit, made from the husk of the cocoa-nut. Some attempts at
ornament were observed, the door-posts being covered with reeds wound around with sennit which
" Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, during the years 1838-1842, by Charles Wilkes, U. S. N.,
vol. iii, p. 113 (edition of 1845).
[204]
Houses in Fiji.
21
had a pretty effect. There are two doorways, one on each side ; these are onlj- about three feet in
height, and are closed by hanging mats. ****** On one side of the house, as is usual
among the Feejeeans, the cooking place is excavated, a foot deep and about eight feet square ; this
was furnished with three large earthen pots of native manufacture.
Of a mbure (sacred or memorial house) they say :
The mound on which it is built is an artificial one, ten feet high : The mbure is about twelve
feet square, and its sides or walls only four feet high ; while its high pitched roof rises to the height
FIG. 17. FIJIAN HOUSE OF MODERN TIMES.
of about thirty feet. The walls and roof of the mbure are constructed of canes about the size of a
finger, and each one is wound round with sennit as thick as a cod line, made from the cocoa-nut
husk. At a little distance, the whole house looked as though it was built of braided cord.
Again, on page 343, this general description is given:
Their houses differ from those of the other groups, although they are constructed of similar
materials. The frame and sills are made of the cocoa-nut and tree fern , they have two doorways,
on opposite sides, from three to four feet high, and four feet wide ; the posts are set in the ground
and are placed about three feet apart ; the rafters of the palm tree are set upon a plate resting on the
post ; these have a very steep pitch, and support a cocoa-nut log, that forms the peak of the roof; the
ends of the peak extend beyond the thatching at each end, and are covered with shells {Ovulum
ovum). The thatching is peculiar being thickest at the eaves. To make the roof they begin at the
[205]
22
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
peak, '^ whence they thatch down with the wild sugar-cane, under which they place fern leaves.
These gradually increase in quantity until they reach to the eaves, which are about two or three feet
thick, project some distance over the sides and are cut off square.
The sides are closed in with small cane, in square wickerwork, and not in diampnd shape, as
those of Tonga. Mats are hung before the doors. The common houses are oblong, from twenty to
thirty feet in length, and fifteen feet high. Some of the best class of buildings, belonging to the
chiefs, are exceedingly well and ingeniously built. If a person wishes to build a house, he carries a
present of a whale's tooth to the king or chief, and tells him his wish, the size, &c. The king or
chief orders the men who are generally employed for such purposes, to prepare the timber and get
all things ready. The direction is given to some one as the chief superintendent, and from one to
five hundred men are employed, as may be deemed necessary. The house is finished in ten or fifteen
days, and will last about five years without repairs to its thatching. They are, however, generally
considered tenantable for twenty years, or upwards. All the houses have fire-places a little on one
FIG. l8. FIJIAN PILLOWS IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM.
side of the centre ; these are nothing more than an ash-pit, with a few large stones to build the fire
and place the pots on. The same kind of fire-place is to be found in the mbures, where a fire is kept
burning night and day, which they believe the kalou or spirit requires. The houses generally are not
divided by partitions, but at each end they are raised about a foot above the centre floor. These,
elevations are for sleeping, and are covered with layers of mats until they are soft and pleasant to
lie on. In sleeping they use a pillow made of a piece of bamboo oi: other species of wood, about two
inches in diameter, with four legs ; this is placed immediately under the neck, and is sufficiently
high to protect their large head of hair from being disarranged.
From the constant use of this pillow, a scirrhous lump, as large as a goose-egg, is often formed
on the nape of the neck. This pillow was undoubtedly brought into use to protect their peculiar
fashion of wearing their hair ; and from the inquiries made, I found it had been used from time im-
memorial. Many of these pillows are carved and ornamented, and a chief always travels with his own.
Again we must turn to a devoted missionary who has lived among the Fijians
and has used his eyes to good advantage. Wilkes was perhaps abreast of his times in
way of gathering information, and he had the help of scientific men of undoubted
'^This is a mistake, as will be seen later on.
[206]
Williams on Fijian Housebuilding.
23
ability, but in matters of ethnology very little that was precise was obtainable, or at
least obtained, by the explorers of those times. It seems very unfortunate that when
old customs and people still existed, there were no trained ethnologists, and when the
advance of scientific methods has put many ardent explorers in the way, both people
and customs have almost vanished from the earth. My honored friend Dr. Charles
Pickering, who was the ethnologist of the expedition, did what he could in the "Races
of Man", but anthropological measurements were not thought of, or at least wanting,
and generalization took the place of the prying questions and minute observations of
the present day. Anthropologists today know more about an individual negro than
was known in 1840 about the whole Fijian race, — nay, than was known of all the peo-
ples of the vast Pacific Ocean.
FIG. 19. SECTIONS OF FIJIAN HOUSES.
Until modern methods and instruments shall be employed in an exploration of
the islands of th^ Great Ocean we must 'be content with the brief, imperfect sketches
the old voyagers have given us, illumined here and there by the gleams thrown on
these dark places by some missionary, who understanding his own needs studies the
people he goes among with the benevolent purpose of saving such souls as they may
have from eternal destruAion, and by these studies saves many a chapter from the
story of their lives which would otherwise have been lost more certainly. To such
workers in the vineyard of the Lord every true scientist gives hearty acclamation,
whatever he may think of their theological beliefs or teachings. One of the excellent
missionaries, the Reverend Thomas Williams, has given in his very interesting and
instructive book on this group, where he worked many years, the following account of
housebuilding there :'^ —
The form of the houses in Fiji is so varied, that a description of a building in one of the wind-
ward islands would give a very imperfect idea of those to leeward, those of the former being much
the better. In one district a village looks like an assemblage of square wicker baskets ; in another,
like so many rustic arbours ; a third seems a collection of oblong hayricks with holes in the sides,
*' Fiji and the Fijians, 2 vols. London, 1858. I,
p. 79.
[207]
24
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
while in a fourth these ricks are conical. By one tribe just enough framework is built to receive the
covering for the walls and roofs, the inside of the house being an open space. Another tribe intro-
duces long centre posts, posts half as long to receive the wall-plates, and others still shorter, as quar-
terings to strengthen the walls ; to these are added tie-beams, to resist the outward pressure of the
high-pitched rafters, and along the side is a substantial gallery, on which property is stored. The
walls or fences of a house are from four to ten feet high ; and, in some cases, are hidden on the out-
side by the thatch being extended to the ground, so as to make the transverse section of the building
an equilateral triangle. [3, Fig. 19.] The walls range in thickness from a single reed to three feet.
Those at Lau (windward) have the advantage in appearance ; those at Ra (leeward) are the warm-
est. At Lau the walls of Chief's houses are three reeds thick, the outer and inner rows of reeds
being arranged perpendicularly, and the middle horizontally, so as to regulate the neat sinnet-work
f"3
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■:h^^'"',i
:||'|i|
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FIG. 20. SINNET WORK ON WAI^LS, FIJI.
with which they are ornamented. At Ra, a covering" of grass or leaves is used, and the fastenings
are vines cut from the woods ; but at Lau sinnet is used for this purpose, and patterns wrought with
it upon the reeds in several different colours. A man, master of difficult patterns, is highly valued,
and his work certainly produces a beautiful and often artistic effect.'^ Sometimes the reeds within
the grass walls are reticulated skilfully with black lines. The door-posts are so finished as to
become literally reeded pillars ; but some use the naturally carved stem of the palm-fern instead.
Fire-places are sunk a foot below the floor, nearly in the centre of the building, and are surrounded
by a curb of hard wood. In a large house, the hearth is twelve feet square, and over it is a frame
supporting one or two floors, whereon pots and fuel are placed, [i. Fig. 19.] Sometimes an eleva-
tion at one end of the dwelling serves as a divan and sleeping place.
Slight houses are run up in a short time. When at Lakemba, I passed a number of men who
had just planted the posts of a house twenty feet long. I was away, engaged with a Tongan Chief,
for about an hour and a half, and on my return was amazed to see the house finished, except the
completing of the ridge. An ordinary house can be built in a fortnight ; the largest require two or
three months. A visitor, speaking of Tanoa's'^ house, says, **It surpasses in magnitude and grand-
eur anything I have seen in these seas. It is one hundred and thirty feet long, forty-two feet wide,
"This work should be compared with the similar work of the Maori shown below.
*9 A remarkable Chief of Mbau, father of Thakombau the cannibal king of Mbau and later of all Fiji, who was
converted to Christianity largely by the counsel and example of George Toubou, King of Tonga.
[208]
Fijian Houses.
25
with massive columns in the centre, and strong, curious workmanship in every part.'' Excellent
timber being easily procured, houses from sixty to ninety feet long, by thirty feet wide, are built,
with a framework which, unless burnt, will last for twenty years. The wood of the bread-fruit tree
is seldom used ; vesi the green-heart of India, buabua, very like box-wood, and cevua, bastard sandal-
wood, being more durable. A peculiarity of the Fijian pillar spoils its appearance. Where the
capital is looked for, there is a long neck just wide enough to receive the beam it supports.
A pillar two feet in diameter is thus cut away at the top to about six inches.
FIG. 21. DOOR OF A FIJIAN HOUSE TO SHOW THE PENT.
Ordinary grass houses have no eaves [3, Fig. 19]; but there is over the doorway a thick semi-
circular projection of fern and grass, forming a pent. [2, Fig. 19 and Fig. 21.] Some houses have
openings for windows. The doorways are generally so low as to compel those who enter to stoop.
The answer to my inquiry why they were so, often reminded me of Proverbs xvii, 19.*° Although the
Fijian has no mounted Arab to fear, he has often foes equally subtle, to whom a high doorway would
give facility for many a murderous visit.
Temples, dwelling-houses, sleeping-houses, kitchens, (Lau) inns or receiving houses for
strangers {mbure 7ii valagi), and yam stores are the buildings of Fiji.
For thatching, long grass, or leaves of the sugar-cane and stone palm, are used. The latter
are folded in rows over a reed, and sewn together, so as to be used in lengths of four or six feet, and
make a very durable covering. The leaves of the sugar-cane are also folded over a reed ; but this
is done on the roof, and cannot be removed, as the other may, without injury. The grass or reed
"'He that raiseth high his gate seeketh destruction.
[209]
26 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
thatch is laid on in rather thin tiers, and fastened down by long rods, found ready for use in the man-
grove forests, and from ten to twenty feet long, and secured to the rafters by split rattans. Some
very good houses are covered first with the cane leaves, and then with the grass, forming a double
thatch. Sometimes the eaves are made two feet thick with ferns, and have a good effect ; but, when
thicker, they look heavy, and, by retaining the wet, soon rot.
The ridge of superior buildings receives much attention. The ends of the ridgepole project
for a yard or more beyond the thatch, having the extremities blackened, and increasing with a funnel-
shape, and decorated with large white shells {Ovuium ovum). The rest of the ridge is finished as a
large roll bound with vines, and on this is fixed a thick, well-twisted grass cable ; another similar
cable is passed along the under side of the roll, having hung from it a row of large tassels. All for-
eigners are struck with the tasteful character of this work, and lament that its materials are not more
durable. I have seen several houses in which the upper edge of the eaves was finished with a neat
braid. The thatchers, contrary to the statement in the *'U. S. Exploring Narrative," always begin
at the eaves and work upwards.
A more animated scene than the thatching of a house in Fiji cannot be conceived. When a
sufficient quantity of material has been collected round the house, the roof of which has been previ-
ously covered with a net-wofk of reeds, from forty to three hundred men and boys assemble, each
being satisfied that he is expected to do some work, and each determined to be very noisy in doing it.
The workers within pair with those outside, each tying what another lays on. When all have taken
their places, and are getting warm, the calls for grass, rods, and lashings, and the answers, all com-
ing from two or three hundred excited voices of all keys, intermixed with stamping down the thatch,
and shrill cries of exultation from every quarter, make a miniature Babel, in which the Fijian — a
notorious proficient in nearly every variety of halloo, whoop and yell — fairly outdoes himself. All
that is excellent in material or workmanship in the Chief's houses, is seen to perfection and in un-
sparing profusion in the mbure or temple.
An intelligent voyager observes :
In architecture the Fijians have made no mean progress ; and they are the only people I have
seen, among those classed by Europeans as savages, who manifested a taste for the fine arts ; while,
as with the ancient Greeks, this taste was universal.*'
I think my reader will agree with me that Mr. Williams has giyen us a very
complete account of the Fijian house and its building; lean hear the noise of its
builders as I recall similar scenes in the Hawaiian Islands and elsewhere in the Pacific
— the Fijian has no monopoly of noise, and if he can beat a modern Hawaiian game of
"bawl" I am much mistaken. Dr. Pickering is right in his estimate of the artistic
tendencies and even achievements of this interesting group of cannibals, for this they
certainly were when they in some former day contrived the plan and form of their
houses which possess at least one prime requisite of true Art, pleasing and satisfying
to a cultured mind. There is but one tribe in the Pacific that can contest the suprem-
acy in architefture with them, and this too is a people of inveterate cannibalistic
tastes, the Maori of New Zealand. I have elsewhere called attention to the curious
fact that anthropophagous people seem to produce the most elaborate ornamentation,
"Pickering's * 'Races of Man'*, p. 155.
[210]
Fijian Human Sacrifices.
27
and here I must add to their credit the most artistic housebuilding. If the Fijian ex-
cels in beauty of form and proportion, the Maori excites our surprise and pleasure in
his carved work, which as used in housebuilding seems to take the lead.
There is a chapter of Fijian housebuilding that has been omitted from all the
accounts already quoted, but which I do not propose to skip, for the matter is also a part
of Hawaiian praAice as well ; I refer to the human sacrifice usual at the planting of
^^^^^^^B
^^^^^H
"-1
4
'^A^H
[JP^'V^^^^^
\^
^B
Hi ' ^idlR^I
\
"^ ■
FIG. 22. VIEW OF A MBURE IN MBAU.
the corner posts (or at least of one) of any important building, whether it be for the
use of the gods or of the chiefs. I quote from an author thoroughly cognizant of
Vitian customs, Lorimer Fison :"
The Vaka-sombu-ninduru, literally, the **lowerers of the post'*, were men killed when the
corner-posts of a heathen temple, or a great chief's house, were lowered into the holes dug for them.
The god in whose honor the temple was being erected, or the chief whose house was building, would be
dishonored if no human life were taken when the posts were set up ; and it used to be of no uncom-
mon occurrence for a living man to be placed standing in each post-hole, and there buried alive by
the side of the post, the hole being filled up and the earth rammed down over him. But a few years
ago there were houses in Fiji, on whose floor the babe and its mother slept, and little children played,
while within hand-reach underground grim skeletons stood embracing the corner posts with their
** Tales from Old Fiji, by Lorimer Fison. London, 1904. xv.
[211]
28 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
fleshless arms. It is even probable that there are houses of this description still standing at the
present day. At the root of this horrible practice we may doubtless recognize the once widespread
superstition that the sacrifice of a human victim, when a foundation was being laid, propitiated the
gods and secured the stability of the building.
When the house timber was cut and ready for hauling from the forest, then also men were
slain who were called Yara-ninduru or **draggers of the post"; the setting up of the first pair of
rafters was celebrated by a cannibal feast, whose victims were called Lalawa-ni-sa, or **rafter tiers**,
and when the building was finished other unfortunate wretches were killed and eaten. These were
known as Vaka-voti-voti y a word whose etymology I am unable to explain.
In another place Mr. Fison tells of an old chief in a corner of whose dwelling
were buried some fifteen of his children, most of them murdered by their father, so it
would seem unlikely that these people had arrived at the luxury of a haunted house!
It will be noticed that with exception of the post viftims, the offerings were eaten, not
simply offered to the gods.
Lest this custom of the Pacific Islanders, which shocks the modern feelings,
should be considered a mark of especial depravity or hardness of heart, let me state
that even in Christian countries and in the case of Christian churches the survival of
this human sacrifice is a matter of history, and modern history at that. I quote from
S. Baring-Gould's "Strange Survivals", 1895, p. 13:
In 1885, Holsworthy parish church was restored, and in the course of restoration the south-
west angle wall of the church was taken down. In it, embedded in the mortar and stone, was found
a skeleton. The wall of this portion of the church was faulty, and had settled. According to the
account of the masons who found the ghastly remains, there was no trace of a tomb, but every appear-
ance of the person having been buried alive and hurriedly. A mass of mortar was over the mouth,
and the stones were huddled about the corpse as though hastily heaped about it, then the walls were
leisurely proceeded with.
The tradition of the ramparts of Copenhagen given by Thiele in his "Danish
Folk-tales" is, there can be no doubt, founded on fact. As the walls of the ramparts
would not stand firm on the poor foundation, the builders took a little girl, placed her
in a chair by a table on which were sweetmeats and playthings to amuse her, and then
a dozen masons rapidly built a vault over her, covering it with earth, and drowning
the innocent child's cries with drums and trumpets. Baring Gould tells us that a few
years ago, when the Bridge Gate in the Bremen walls was demolished, the skeleton of
a child was aftually found imbedded in the foundation. The same author we quote :
In the walls of the ancient castle of Henneberg, the seat of a line of powerful counts, is a re-
lieving arch, and the story goes that a mason engaged on the castle was induced by the offer of a sum
of money to yield his child to be built into it. The child was given a cake, and the father stood on
a ladder superintending the building. When the last stone was put in the child screamed in the
wall, and the man overwhelmed with self-reproach, lost his hold, fell from the ladder, and broke his
[212]
Human Sacrifices in Europe. 29
neck. A similar story is told of the castle of Liebeastein. A mother sold her child for the purpose.
As the wall rose about the little creature, it cried out, ^'Mother I still see you!'* Then later '^Mother
I can hardly see you!'* And lastly, ** Mother I see you no more!"
The Roman had, however, substituted for human sacrifice the ojffering of other
animals. Livy tells us (xxii, 57), "Interim ex fatalibus libris sacrificia aliquot extraor-
dinaria facta : inter quae Gallus et Galla, Graecus et Graeca, in Foro Boario snb terra
vivi demissi sunt in locum saxo conseptum, jam ante hostiis humanis, minime Romano
sacro, imbutum."
Mahometans vied with Christians in these human sacrifices to secure stability
of walls, and the well authenticated case of Geronimo of Oran, a Christian who was
bedded in a block of concrete September 18, 1569, and the block built into the wall of a
fort near the Bab-el-oved, Algiers, seems the last recorded instance of these human
sacrifices. In 1853 the block was removed from the wall and the remains with the
cast of the head are now in the Cathedral of Algiers.
So late as 1843, when a new bridge was to be built at the University town of
Halle, in Germany, the people assured the architect and masons that they could never
make the piers stand unless they first immured a living child in the foundation. During
the Boxer troubles in China, it was charged against the Christian missionaries that
they were trying to get Chinese children to build into the wall of a new church (much
as the Christians have repeatedly charged the Jews with stealing Christian children
for sacrifice), and it is not astonishing when we consider the words of Scripture, under-
stood literally by an uneducated and partly hostile audience, "Ye also, as living stones,
are built up a spiritual house" (I Peter, ii, 5), and the familiar hymn.
Blessed city, heavenly Salem,
Vision dear of peace and love,
Who of living stones upbuilded.
Art the joy of heaven above.
Let us not then blame the Polynesians for a superstition which seems world
wide and powerful enough to survive and be a moving force to the present day among
some of the Asiatic nations.
I have before me some charming views of Fijian houses taken by my friend
J. W. Lindt, the distinguished photographer of Melbourne, which will give my reader
pleasure as well as instruftion if they can be reproduced with the beauty of the origi-
nals. These are on Plates XVIII and XIX. The first shows Na Kali village on the
shore of Viti Levu, and the inhabitants as well as their dwellings are brought vividly
before us. The builder of the principal house has utilized a great rock in piling up
his platform, and this does not extend beyond the walls of the house. The usual pent
[213]
30 The Ancient Hawaiian Hotise,
is distinct over each door; and the ridge seems more neatly finished than the rest of
the house thatch; the water comes to the platform and the waterward door has a steep
log ladder that only bare feet could safely pass. In such a peaceful scene we can forget
the skeleton in the posthole: Fijian houses have no closets!
The lower figure on the same plate shows a long house under the spreading
branches of a breadfruit tree, a house that distinftly shows eaves. This is in Waitovu
village on the island of Ov^alau. The rustic scene surely seems far from the cannibalism
of ancient times, and the fierce Fijian has as peaceful home as the indolent Tahitian.
In Plate XIX the upper figure represents the palace of the king of Mbau, the
little island noted for the warlike charafter of its people, where Tanoa and his better
known son Thakombau lived. The house has windows, — the first of this foreign inno-
vation we have seen in Fiji; and the cottage perched upon the neat fence is an equal
novelty. The way in which the ridgepole is bound to the thatch is clearly shown,
especially in the smaller building. The fine canoe in the foreground shows that the
house is along the shore and not on the higher part of Mbau. As the Hawaiians, so
the Fijians hugged the shore, and in many of the Fijian islands it is difficult to travel
inland; all intercourse is by water. Less than a century before this pidlure was taken,
such a canoe as that shown would have been launched by its savage owner on rollers
each a human being!
The lower figure shows a house of ordinary form built on the ground, and in
the absence of the protecting platform, the low stakes outside the door keep out the
pigs, a contrivance sometimes used by the Hawaiians in similar circumstances. The
young woman coming from the house has a ladder of bambu neatly bound together
with sennit, and her basket suggests an expedition for breadfruit.
New Zealand Houses. — Although Tasman discovered New Zealand he never
landed there, and until Cook landed there a century and a quarter afterwards, the
civilized world knew nothing of the inhabitants except that they had murdered some
of Tasman's crew. Cook spent nearly a year about the group, but his report gives us
little information about the housebuilding. What is known as Cook's First Voyage
was edited by Dr. Hawkesworth from such material as he found in the journals of all
the officers of the expedition. In this we read :^^
Their houses are the most inartificially made of anything among them, being scarcely equal,
except in size, to an English dog-kennel ; they are seldom more than eighteen or twenty feet long,
eight or ten broad, and five or six high, from the pole that runs from one end to the other and forms
the ridge, to the ground ; the framing is of wood, generally slender sticks, and both walls and roof
consist of grass and hay, which, it must be confessed, is very tightly put together; and some are
*^ Cook's First Voyage, III, 437.
[214]
The Maori House.
31
also lined with the bark of trees, so that in cold weather they must afford a very comfortable retreat .
The roof is sloping, like those of our barns, and the door is at one end, just high enough to admit a
man, creeping upon his hands and knees : near the door is a square hole, which serves the double
office of window and chimney, for the fire-place is at that end, nearly in the middle between the two
sides : in some conspicuous part, and generally near the door, a plank is fixed, covered with carvin g
after their manner; this they value as we do a picture, and in their estimation it is not an inferior
ornament ; the side walls and roof project about two feet beyond the walls at each end, so as to form
a kind of porch, in which there are benches for the accommodation of the family. That part of th e
flDDr which was allotted for the fire-place, is enclosed in a hollow square, by partitions either of wood
FIG. 23. MAORI HOUSE.
or stone, and in the middle of it the fire is kindled. The floor along the inside of the walls, is thickly
covered with straw and upon this the family sleep. Some of the better sort, whose families are
large, have three or four houses enclosed within a court yard, the walls of which are constructed of
poles and hay and are about ten or twelve feet high.
When we were on shore in the district called Tolaga, we saw the ruins, or rather the frame
of a house, for it had never been finished, much superior in size to any that we saw elsewhere ; it was
thirty feet in length, about fifteen in breadth, and twelve high ; the sides of it were adorned with
many carved planks, of a workmanship much superior to any other that we had met with in the
country ; but for what purpose it was built, or why it was deserted, we could never learn.
This carved house, we shall see presently, was one of the buildings that make
the Maori architedlure noteworthy, but in the meantime w^ may note what Cook him-
self says in his Journal (p. 223) which has only recently (in 1893) been published
exactly as the great navigator wrote it :
[215]
32
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
The Houses of these People are better calculated for a Cold than a Hot Climate ; they are built
low and in the form of an oblong square. The framing is of wood or small sticks, and the sides and
Covering of thatch made of long Grass. The door is generally at one end , and no bigger than to
admit of a man to Creep in and out ; just within the door is the fireplace, and over the door, or on
one side, is a small hole to let out the Smoke. These houses are twenty or thirty feet long, others
not above half as long ; this depends upon the largeness of the Family they are to contain, for I be-
FIG. 24. POUPOU AND TUKUTUKU AT OHINEMUTU.
lieve few Familys are without such a House as these, altho' they do not always live in them, especially
in the summer season, when many of them live dispers'd up and down in little Temporary Hutts,
that are not sufficient to shelter them from the weather.
This is the first group of those whose housebuilding we have glanced at, that
extends beyond the Tropics and, in the southern part, into a decidedly cold climate.
Snow-capped mountains with glaciers and extensive mountain lakes lower the tempera-
ture even in summer, and we should naturally expect a very different form of building
from the veranda-like houses of Tahiti or Samoa. While hurricanes do not visit New
Zealand as they do Fiji, Samoa, and the southeastern Pacific generally, yet the pre-
vailing winds are in places very severe, as at Invercargill, where trees hardly venture
[216]
Maori Carved Houses.
33
to grow above the shelter of stone walls, and even in the charming city of Wellington
there are storms of wind and rain that make a tight house necessary for comfort. On
the northern island where the climate passes into the subtropical, the houses of the
aborigines are still well enclosed against the weather. In the King Country, on the
Wanganui River, I have seen houses such as Cook describes, and others with more or
less carved ornamentation. At Ohinemutu in the Hot Spring district are good examples
FIG. 25. A MAORI HOUSE.
of the carved houses. All of the illustrations are of houses or parts of houses that I
have seen, and many of the houses I have examined with some care. I will give one
more description of the Maori house in modem time, and it will be seen that there is
little difference from the pictures left us by the first discoverers, so far as the general
plan is concerned. In the matter of decoration there has undoubtably crept in
unmistakable traces of foreign influence, but this is of little importance if we know
the fact. The most modern as well as the most complete description of the dwellings
of the Maori has been given by Mr. Augustus Hamilton,'^ but to his admirable work
^•The Art Workmanship of the Maori Race in New Zealand. Dunedin, 1896, p. 79. Published by the New
Zealand Institute.
MBMOIRS B. p. B. MUftBXTM, VOL. II, NO. 3-— 3- L^ ^ 7 J
34
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
I must refer those who wish to go more fully into the detail of the Maori house, as
Mr. Hamilton's work is doubtless accessible in all good libraries. I shall, however,
quote from Mr. Hamilton's work where there is need to explain or modify the account,
much more brief, given bj'^ Rev. Richard Taylor'^ which I have decided to quote in full :
The European traveller who crawls into a native hut for the first time, will see nothing par-
ticularly interesting in it ; he will perhaps, only view it as a dark smoky hovel ; but when he be-
FIG. 26. ENTRANCE OF A MODERN CARVED HOUSE.
comes acquainted with native customs, and observes the order and arrangement displayed, the careful
way it is constructed, and how perfectly the object aimed at is attained, he will not withhold its
meed of praise.
The principal houses are called whare punt, or warm houses ; this name may be given either
from the number of persons generally residing in them, or from their being so built as to exclude the
external air; they are usually sunk one or two feet in the earth, and nearly always front the sun ;
the sides of one are seldom more than four feet high, being formed of large broad slabs of totara
{Podocarpus totara), the most durable timber, having a small circular groove or opening cut into the
top to receive the rafters ; these slabs are either adzed, and painted with red ochre, or, if it be a very
superior house, each one is gprotesquely carved to represent some ancestor of the family, in which
case they become a kind of substititute for the nobleman's ancestral picture gallery; between these
posts there is generally a space of two feet, which is filled up with a kind of lattice-work, composed
'^ Te Ika a Maui ; or New Zealand and Its Inhabitants. Second edition.
[218]
London, 1870, p. 500.
Taylor'^s Account of Maori House.
35
of slender laths, dyed black, white, or red, and bound together with narrow strips of the kiekie {Freyci-
netia banksii) leaf, very tastefully disposed in patterns ; this is called arapake ; there is also a skirt-
ing board {papa whai) painted red; and the rafters which are either carved or painted with different
colored ochres, rest on a ridge pole {tahuhu or -tahu), in which a notch is cut to receive them. This
ridge pole is always the entire length of the building, including that of the verandah, being gen-
erally of a triangular shape, and very heavy ; it is supported by a post or pillar {pou tahu) in the
middle of the house, the bottom of which is carved in the form of a human figure representing the
founder of the family — and is thus a kind of lares ; immediately before
the face of this figure is the fire-place, a small pit formed by four slab
stones sunk into the gpround ; perhaps this is some relic of ancient fire-
worship in the position of the fire, which, as a domestic altar, always
burns before the face of the image of their deified ancestor.
The entrance to the house is by sliding door {iatau), which is
formed of a solid slab of wood, about two feet and a half high, and a
foot and a half wide ; the way of fastening it when the owners were ab-
sent, was by means of a stick, which passed through a loop in the door
and crossed the side posts ; it could of course be opened by any one, but
was always regarded as tapu ; they were also accustomed to secure
their doors by complicated knots, when likely to be absent for any
length of time. On the right side of this is a window {tnafapihi), gen-
erally about ten inches high and two feet wide ; this also is furnished
with a slide which goes into the wall of the building ; another window
is placed in the roof, a kind of trap-door, termed a pihanga ox puhayiga,
literally gills or lungs, a breathing place, more than an aperture for
admitting light, which is not required in a whare-puni at night. On
entering, there is a low slab of wood on either side, to partition off the
sleeping places, leaving a path down the middle, that nearest the door
being about eighteen inches high, in which the inmates lay in rows, each
with his feet towards the fire, and his head to the wall ; the chief, or
owner of the house, invariably takes the right side next the window,
the place of honor ; the next in point of rank occupy those nearest to
him, whilst the slaves, and persons of no consequence, go to the furthest
end. Their bedding {wariki), seldom consists of anything more than
one or more ground mats (waikawa), upon which sometimes a finer one
{iihenga pora) is laid, and a round log, or a bundle of fern serves as a
pillow {urunga). Formerly they never ate in their houses, therefore
verandahs {mahau) were required. The length of a whare puni is from
twenty to thirty feet, and the breadth sixteen ; the verandah is seldom more than six feet in depth,
being a continuation of the gable end of the house, having the entire width*^ of the one building ; it
has a broad slab in front, about two feet and a half high, which separates it from the road ; from this a
post rises to the ridgepole which is surmounted with a caved figure. *7 [Figs. 27 and 28.] The verandah
is ornamented in the same way as the interior of the house ; its wall plate is often carved to repre-
sent the prostrate figures of slaves on whose bodies the pillars which support the house stand ; this
seems to refer to an extinct custom of killing human victims, and placing them in the holes made to
receive the posts, that the house being founded in blood might stand ; the custom still prevails in
Borneo and other parts. Over the door is a board called maihi {slIso pare or korupe) , elaborately
^This is not quite exact, as the porch was always a little less than the ¥ridth of the house. See Hamilton, p. 81.
'^This post, which is common enough in modern houses, seems not to have been usual in those of the olden
time. Fig. 25.
[219]
FIG.
27. TEKOTKKO FROM
MAORI GABI^E.
36
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
carved, and adorned with bunches of pigeon feathers ; the facings of the door-posts and window are
similarly ornamented ; the building is covered externally with raupo ( Typha angustifolia) or sedge,
and roofed with the same, then with gprass or a similar substance, to a considerable thickness ; earth
is generally heaped up against the sides, so as almost to reach the eaves.
At sunset, a fire is made in the house, which is allowed to burn clear for some time, and fill
the little pit with embers, when it ceases to smoke the occupants enter ; the door and window being
closed, the heat soon becomes almost as great as that r
of an oven, and of such a stifling nature, from the
fumes of the charcoal, that few Europeans can bear it,
yet frequently twenty, thirty, or more natives will
sleep in this place huddled together, and almost in a
state of nudity ; sometimes even they suffer, from the
charcoal being too powerful ; this was formerly at-
tributed to the visits of Wat patupaiarehe (fairies).
To the description of Maori dwellings
must be added some account of their pataka
or storehouse, a small struAure on which the
carver used all his art and industry. Being
comparatively portable these pataka of the
old Maori have mostly been gathered, either
as a whole or in part, into museums and no
longer add to the picturesque value of a native
village. This small house, for it was merely
a reduced model of the whare puni, was raised
from the ground on one or more posts, and its
general appearance may be understood by
reference to Fig. 29, from a photograph of the
beautiful specimen preserved in the Auckland
Museum. When very small and raised high
on a single post, the pataka resembled a bird-
house and served as the depositary of a chiefs
bones which were in due time exhumed,
cleaned and thus stored.
The gable end of a pataka which was
perforated by the very small entrance** was composed of five or seven thick planks
usually of totara wood, on which were carved gods or deified ancestors of the owner,
the figure over the door in the centre (Fig. 33) representing the chief ancestor, and
the pantheon served to protect (under the tapu system) all treasures stored within,
*• Two of these pataka fronts in the Bishop Museum have doors averaging 22 X 17 inches. As they were reached
by a ladder, it must have been very awkward to take bulky articles out. In some cases these pataka were built in
shallow lakes and reached by boats.
[220]
FIG. 28.
GROUP OF GABLE IMAGES IN THE
BISHOP MUSEUM.
Maori Palaka.
37
more than locks or human vigilance. These planks were bound to smaller posts inter-
vening by cords of native flax {Phormtutn). As in the case of many, if not most Maori
carvings really old, these figures represented facts which in Anglo-Saxon civilization
are deemed indecencies, often so gross that they are not piAured by the foreign artist:
to the Maori they did not so appear, nor do I believe they were made, as were many of
the sculptures and paintings revealed by the excavations at Pompeii, to pander to mere
FIG. 29. PATAKA IN AUCKLAND MUSEUM.
sensuality. That they were often caricatures of realities is true, and such examples
amused rather than in any other way disturbed the Maori.
In many Maori carvings of human or superhuman heads the eyes are repre-
sented by nacreous shell {paua — Haliotis iris and H. stomatcBformis) cut in ring form
and attached by a projeAion of the dark wood which represents the pupil. Bunches
of feathers are also often attached to the cords tying the struAure together.
The principal carvings, to recapitulate, that distinguish a Maori Whare kopae
are, within the house Xht^poupou or heavy carved slabs serving as posts, of which Fig. 30
one from the Rununga whare or Council house of the pa at Maketu, supposed to have
[221]
38
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
been carved in 1820, and now in the Bishop Museum, gives a fair idea. These were
generally memorials of the ancestors, human or divine, of the builder and not infre-
quently show a great amount of patient work. Even to the
present day there are Maori skilled in this work, and with the
white man's chisel the work is much lightened. Fig. 35. The
principal post, poutokomanawa^ sup-
porting the ridge-pole, was carved in
the lower portion in a more realistic
way (see Fig. 32), and I have seen an
outstretched hand from one of these
figures that might have been the work
of a competent European sculptor.
Externally the sculpture was ex-
pended on the gable front of these
houses, as may be seen in several of
the illustrations given. Of these the
amo^ of which a fine pair from Tara-
wera is shown in PI. XXII, supported
the lower end of the maihi or barge-
boards; the latter supporting at
the peak a figure, usually a mask
{korurii)^ above which is the tekoteko.
As shown in the illustration (Fig. 25)
these images were of varied form, often
grotesque, but always possessing
some attributed power of protection,
and so strong was this that the tapu
often withheld the hand of the vic-
torious enemy who had killed the
inmates from disturbing the house;
if the owners were all dead no one
would despoil it even for firewood.
Over the door was an elaborate carv-
ing called ^^r^ or korupe^ one of which
is shown in PI. XXII. This rested ^i^- 31. a maori mythicai,
?ORM ON A HOUSE SI^AB.
on the whakawae or ngawaewae. The fancy of the Maori
sculptor had free play on these lintels and they are among the most artistic Maori monu-
ments in museums. Besides the one figured this Museum possesses another carved
[222]
FIG. 30. POUPOU FROM MAKETU.
Maori Doorways.
39
by the grandfather of Matangi, an old man in 1820. Thus dating from the time of
Cook's visit, or perhaps earlier.
The ngawaewae were, in the old houses, very short; a fine pair in this Museum
from Tetaheke, Lake Rotoiki, shown in PI. XXII, measures only thirty inches in
height, but with the advent of foreigners the height of the doorway increased, and
modern carved ngawaewae are made high enough to accommodate a tall foreigner; one
of these is shown in Fig. 26: In the modern work the old design, however, still ap-
FIG. 32. INTERIOR OF MAORI HOUSE, ROTORUA.
pears, one figure upon another. The round bellies of the figures, the curious three-
fingered hand, the fingers of one or the other hand inserted in the mouth, the mouth
itself recalling the mouth of the Hawaiian idols, who also have the same oblique ej^e,
all are repeated in most of the doorposts I have seen. A seAion of one of these
ngawaewae is of L form, the figures occupying the short arm, while the longer one is
decorated with Maori arabesques.
In the fine doorway shown in Fig. 33 the same figures are at either side of the door.
The main figure over the door has so large a head that the remarkable device of two
necks does not seem unreasonable. In the Fig. 34, the central slab of a fine pataka
in the Bishop Museum, the interlaced strap pattern of the ground is good even for old
[223]
40
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Maori design. The main figure holds a patu in which is an English penny. The door
has been fastened by an old English lock, of which the keyhole is seen on the right.
While the human figures in Maori carving seem
grotesque in the extreme, the mythical animals fre-
FIG. 33. DOORWAY OF PATAKA. (^°Museum^^) ^^^' 34* CENTRAL SLAB OF PATAKA
quently found in sculptured decoration out-herod Herod. The Maori was well able to
treat his subject ad naturam^ and if he distorted the actual models before him, he had his
reason, and it was not lack of power ; but when his subject was a taniwha he perhaps
[224]
The Union Group.
41
came as near the idea as the Greek in his Chimaera or Hydra. The figure given in
illustration (Fig. 31) is a remarkably fine bit of old carving, in private hands in Auck-
land, when I saw it a few years ago. Other carved slabs were found with it buried in
a swamp, and on all the carving was of the highest order, although in some places
•decayed. The designs were often remarkably obscene to the Anglo-Saxon sense,
although proper enough to the Maori.
FIG. 35. NEW ZEALANDERS CARVING A POUPOU.
It may be repeated that the strange figures on the poupoti or other parts of the
Maori house represented ancestors, human or divine, of the owner of the house, and
the faces bear the moko or carved face decoration which was distinct in each head, and
cut on the living flesh much as the sculptor carved it on his block of wood. An old
Maori could have told who the carved face portrayed from the pattern of the moko.
Union Group. — We may now return to the mid-Pacific, not far from Samoa,
and between that group and the equator in about 9° S. lies the Union Group, consisting
of the three low islands Atafu or Oatafu (Duke of York Id.), Nukunono (Duke of Clar-
ence Id.) and Fakaafo (Bowditch). Byron, who discovered Atafu in 1765, reported it
[225J
42 The Ancient Hawaiian House,
uninhabited. There are some sixty-three islets covered with coconut and pandanus
trees, and the atoll is now under British proteAorate as are the two others. Nukunono
was discovered by Captain Edwards in the Pandora in 1791, and Fakaafo by Captain
Hudson of the U. S. Exploring Expedition in 1840.
The houses on these islands at the time of the visit of the Exploring Expedition
as we see them in the drawings of Mr. T. C. Agate, one of the artists of the expedition,
are not only typical of the stick and thatch method of building, but very beautiful ex-
FIG. 36. SCENE ON ATAFU. DRAWN BY T. C. AGATE.
amples of that architecture now almost extinct in this region (Fig. 36). Captain
Hudson visited a village on the shore of the lagoon and describes it as containing —
about thirty houses which were raised about a foot above the surrounding earth;
they were of oblong shape, about fifteen feet high to the ridge-pole, sloping gradually and of a
convex form to within two or three feet of the ground ; the roof [ridge-pole] was supported on high
posts, whilst the lower part rested on short ones, three feet within the eaves having a strong piece
extending around, on which the rafters were tied ; the gable-ends were overtopped by the roof, and
seemed necessary to protect them from the weather. Below the eaves the whole was open from the
ground to the roof. The thatching, made of pandanus-leaves, was of great thickness, and put on
loosely. The interior of the houses was very clean, but there was no furniture except a few gourds,
and a reclining stool, cut from a solid block of wood, having two legs at one end, which inclined it
at an angle of nearly forty-five degrees ; to show the manner of lying in it, they imitated a careless
[226]
Fakaafo Houses.
43
and comfortable lounge which they evidently considered a luxury. It was conjectured that they
had removed their various household utensils to a secret place.
The most remarkable constructions of the islanders near the village, were three small quays,
five or six feet wide and two feet above the water, forming slips about ten feet wide : at the end of
each of these was a small house, built of pandanus leaves, partly on poles in the water [See Fig. 36].
«««««« They have no water on the island, and the supply is wholly obtained from excava-
tions made in the body of the cocoanut trees, two feet from the ground. These trees are all dug out
on the lea side, towards which all are more or less inclined. These excavations are capable of con-
taining five or six gallons of water. ^^
FIG. 37. COCONUT GROVE AND HOUSE ON FAKAAFO. AGATE.
The boats of the expedition were not able to land on Nukunono and sailed south-
ward, discovering Fakaafo. On this new island they found the dwellings much like those
they had seen on Atafu, but better built. Quoting again from the Narrative (v, p. 14):
The most remarkable building was that which they said was their tui tokelau (house, of their
god). This stood in the centre, and was of an oblong shape, fifty by thirty-five feet, and about
twenty feet in height. The roof was supported in the centre by three posts, two feet in diameter,
while under the place on which the rafters rested, were many short and small posts : all were very
roughly hewn, and placed only a few feet asunder. The roof was concave and extended beyond the
posts at the eaves ; the thatching was tied together, which, hanging down, resembled at a distance
the curtain of a tent or marquee. All the sides were open, excepting a small railing, about fifteen
inches high, around the foundation, which allowed the free passage of the air through. * * * *
'^U. S. Ex. Exped., v. 7-
It is not probable that they had more furniture in their ordinary houses.
[227]
44
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
The edifice contained but little furniture. Around the eaves a row of mother-of-pearl shells
was suspended, giving the appearance of a scolloped curtain. The whole was covered with mats.
In the centre, around the largest pillar, a great number of enormous benches, or tables were piled,
which were carved out of the solid wood, and being of rude workmanship, were clumsy and ill-shaped.
In all probability these were the reclining stools before spoken of. The natives termed them **the
seats of their god." Their gods, or idols, tui tokelau , y^^x^ placed on the outside, nearby. The
largest of these was fourteen feet high and eighteen inches in diameter. This was covered or invel-
oped in mats and over all a narrow one was passed, shawl-fashion, and tied in a knot in front, with
the ends hanging down [Fig. 37]. The smaller idol was of stone and four feet high, but only par-
tially covered with mats. About ten feet in front of the idols was one of the hewn tables, which was
hollowed out ; it was four feet long by three broad, and the same in height. (Loc. cit., v, p. 14.)
^ ''* ^^^^^^^^^H
i^^H
B^ii^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^K
^^^^^^^■B
g^^^g^^^^
FIG. 38. LARGE MARIAPU AT UTEROA.
Gilbert Islands. — Turning northwestward from the Union Group, we soon
enter the region of Micronesia, — the little islands, a vast archipelago stretching many
degrees east and west along the equatorial belt and in a way connecting the southeast-
ern Polynesians with the Asiatic races of the Marianas and Pelew Islands on the north
of the equator, and through the spurs of the Seniavine and Mortlock groups, with the
Papuans of the Bismarck Archipelago and the New Hebrides on the south. The isl-
ands of the Gilbert and Marshall groups are low coral atolls, — small islands grouped
around a shallow lagoon, generally roughly circular, sometimes mere arcs of the circle
remaining. The climate is equatorial throughout, and that and the vegetation and lay of
the ground would conduce to uniformity in housebuilding. On Tapiteuea (Drummond),
or rather its northern islet Uteroa, the Wilkes expedition landed and, unfortunately,
[228]
Gilbert Islands Houses.
45
later had to burn the village in punishment for the murder of one of their crew.
Wilkes describes their building as follows, and Mr. Agate has given the piAure of the
principal building (Fig. 38):
They reached the beach near what the natives termed their ''Mariapu'\ or council house, one
of the large buildings that had been before spoken of as visible from the sea. This stands in front
of the town, on a broad wharf made 'of coral stones built out from the beach ; its dimensions as meas-
ured were one hundred and twenty feet long, by forty-five feet wide, and to the ridge-pole forty feet
high. The ridge-pole was supported by five large posts whence the roof sloped on each side and
FIG. 39. INTERIOR OF MARIAPU.
reached within three feet of the ground ; the rafters descended to a wall-plate which rested on large
blocks of white coral, and were also supported by smaller posts ten feet in length, near the sides.
At the ends the roof was perpendicular for eight or ten feet, and then they sloped off in the same
manner as the sides. The roof was thatched with pandanus leaves. (Loc. cit., v, p. 55.)
The Mariapu was a very large building, and in the interior [Fig. 39] its architecture showed
to much advantage : the ridge-pole with the rafters, were painted in bldck bands, with points, and
ornamented with a vast number of ovule shells. Chests made of the thin laths of the pandanus,
somewhat resembling cane, were arranged around, about twenty feet apart : these contained only a
few mats and cocoanuts, things of no value, and are supposed to be for the accommodation of visitors
or used at their feasts. The floor was in places covered with mats of the cocoanut leaves [p. 59].
Near this was a dwelling of the better sort which they thus describe :
There was nothing remarkable in its exterior ; it was of oblong shape, and about sixteen feet
wide by twenty feet long. The interior consisted of two stories, of which the lower one was not more
than three feet high, under the floor of the upper story. It was entered by a square hole on one side.
[229]
46
The Ancient Hawaiian House,
The apartment above was rather a loft or garret, which was high and contained apparently all the
valuables and goods of the occupant. The floor was made of small pieces of pandanus boards laid
on slender beams of cocoanut wood. * * * * The lower apartment is used for sleeping, while
the upper entirely for storing their goods and chattels. The wall-plates rest on four beams of cocoa-
nut wood, which are supported by four posts at each corner. These posts are round and perfectly
smooth so that the rats can-
not climb them. The rafters
and cross-pieces are mere
poles only an inch or two
thick ; the thatch is of pan-
danus-leaf doubled over a
slender stick and tied down
with sennit, (p. 56.)
Here we have the first
attic in the Pacific archi-
teAure; indeed the first
suggestion of a second
story. The upper beams
used as shelves for vari-
ous articles, in the
Samoan , Tongan and
Marquesan houses have
now developed into a gar-
ret. From the island of
Maiana we have in the
Bishop Museum a care-
fully construAed model
of a house (see Fig. 40)
given by the Reverend
William Lono, formerly
a missionary of the Ha-
waiian Board to the Gilbert Islands, now the pastor of the Kaumakapili Church in
Honolulu. In this wfe have a still farther developement. Like the houses of Tape-
teuea it is supported on four smooth corner posts, probably for the same reason, but
the first floor contains a room of ample height, with an opening in the floor of such
extent as to place the remaining floor in the class of gallery. The entrance is through
this aperture by a rude ladder,^° which is removable, and there is no opening on the
sides of the house on this story. The height of the first floor above the ground is quite
sufl&cient to keep pigs and other intruding animals out. The floor aperture admits light,
^°Rev. Hiram Binghem D.D., who was for years a missionary in the Gilbert Islands, assures me that they
seldom used ladders to get into the comparatively low floor.
[230]
FIG. 40. MODEL OF A MAIANA HOUSE.
Miaonesian Houses.
47
serves for ventilation, and the easy removal of rubbish. Above this is another gallery
with a diminished opening in the centre, the floor of the attic store room. This is
well ventilated at each gable, one, indeed being left open. There is a double ridge-
pole as in the Hawaiian house.
Kusaie. — From the low islands of the Gilbert archipelago we turn to the high
volcanic islands that appear here and there in Micronesia. Conditions having changed,
the housebuilders have planned in other ways. The possession of stone (utterly want-
ing in the coral islands), again
suggests the platform as a good
house foundation, and the struc-
ture gaining in dignity, we find
the houses of the chiefs and
well-to-do men exhibiting some
architeAural features that we
have not hitherto seen in our
rapid sketch of Pacific house-
building : as we go west we shall
see more, and have perhaps all
that the "stick and thatch''
house can show.
In this Museum is a care-
fully made model of a Kusaian
house (Fig. 41) belonging to a
chief, which presents a square
struAure of which the saddle
^ roof is the prominent feature.
The walls of the house are, as
usual, low and the framework is
of squared timbers without cross bracing, the interspaces closed, not with thatch, but
with neatly made mats of reeds closely bound together with sinnet, a light and cleanly
method. These mats are colored white with lime made from coral, left in the natural
color, or decorated with sennit. The four sides have each a small central door. The
palm-thatched roof has the peculiar form shown in the figure, and the gable ends, partly
open for ventilation, seem to be the most decorated portion of the building. Fig. 42
shows more of the detail, but the sennit patterns in red and black on a white ground
should be seen in their fresh color to be justly appreciated. There is a lightness,
[231]
FIG. 41. MODEI. OF A KUSAIAN CHIEF'S HOUSE.
FIG. 42. GABLE OF A KUSAIAN HOUSE.
y
Pelew Islands Houses. 49
wanting in the Maori carved house, very attractive in the warmer climate of Kusaie.
To these houses, which are of limited size, there are no internal beams and the ridge-
pole is supported by the triangles shown in the figure of the gable end. The floor is of
slats, after the style of the East Indian bambu structures, and while light and cleanly,
is hard for a novice to walk upon. Of the interior furnishing I have no particulars.
Ponape. — In Ponap6 the houses are built upon platforms as in the Marquesas,
Hawaii and elsewhere : and these substructures are four or five feet high, built of
basaltic blocks or slabs of coral limestone. The house-walls are low ; the beams of the
framework squared, and the interspaces filled with panels or curtains composed of
reeds or cane not more than half an inch thick, bound together neatly by coconut
fibre : the roof is closely thatched with palm leaf, the eaves projeAing so as to shade
the walls. The narrow doors are a marked feature of these rectangular, shed-like
dwellings, which are seldom more than twenty feet high to the ridges.
I pass over the stone structures on the shores of Ponape, already referred to,
because there does not seem sufficient evidence that they were built for human habita-
tion, or if they were, have been more than foundation platforms for ordinary houses.
Pelew Islands. — The story of the happy island as edited by Keate^' from the
journals of Captain Wilson and his officers, pi6lures an Arcadia seldom met with and
assuredly not to be found in the Pacific at the present day. The houses of the amiable
people therein depiAed are thus described:
Their houses were raised about three feet from the ground, placed on large stones, which ap-
peared as if cut from the quarry, being thick and oblong ; on these pedestals the foundation beams
laid, from whence spring the upright supports of their sides, which were crossed by other timbers
grooved together and fastened by wooden pins ; the intermediate spaces closely filled up with bam-
boos and palm-leaves, which they plaited so closely and artificially as to keep their habitations warm
and exclude all wet ; and their being raised from the ground preserved them from any humidity.
The floors were in general made of very thick plank, a space of an inch or two being left between
many of them. But in some of the houses they were composed of large bamboos split, which being
perpetually trodden over, rendered them very slippery. The interior part of the house was without
any division, the whole forming one great room. In general the fire-place stood about the middle
of it, sunk lower than the floor, with no timber below it, the whole space beneath being filled up with
hard rubbish ; but in the larger buildings, where they held their public meetings, they had a fire-
place at each end. Their fires were in common but small, being mostly used to boil their yams, and
to keep up a little flame at night to clear away the dews, and smoke the mosquitoes. Their windows
came to the level of the floor, and served both for doors and windows, having stepping-stones at all
of them to enter by. To prevent any inconvenience from wind or rain, which so many apertures
^'An Account of the Pelew Islands situated in the Western part of the Pacific Ocean. Composed from the
Journals and Communications of Captain Henry Wilson and some of his officers, who, in August, 1783, were there
shipwrecked, in the Antelope, a Packet belonging to the Honourable East India Company, by George Keate, Esq.,
F. R. S. and S. A. London, 1788. 4to. (Second Edition.)
MBMoms B. P. B. MusBuii. Vol. II, No. 3.-4. T 2 '^ '^ 1
50
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
might occasion, each of them had a bamboo frame or shutter, interwoven as the sides of the house
were, which sliding on bamboo rods, were easily slipt on one side when anybody wanted to go in or out.
On the top of the upright sides beams were laid across from whence sprang the roof, which was
pointed like our barns the whole inside being clear ; this made their houses within very lofty and
airy: the outside of the roof was thatched very thick and close with bamboos or palm-leaves. This
was the general form of their houses; some of which were from sixty to eighty feet in length, but
these were appropriated to public uses, such as meetings of business, or festivity; at other times they
served the natives to assemble in and chat
together, where the women usually brought
their work and joined in the conversation.
Those that were properly domestic habita-
tions, were the same both in shape and
texture, though less in dimension. It was
remarked that the family kept on one side
of the central fire-place, and the servants
on the other.
From the same author we learn
that the islanders had earthen vessels
for boiling their yams, etc., bambu
joints for water buckets, adzes of
shell {Tridacna gigas) including
the reversible form known from New
Guinea to Hawaii (see theseMemoirs,
i, p. 419, fig. 85, pi. Ix); tortoise-shell
dishes andlfish-hooks; knives of pearl
shell as well as bambu. Their cords
and nets were made of coconut fibre,
they pinned their house frame to-
gether, an East Indian or Asiatic
fashion, although pins were used in
Maori houses, and in parts other than
the main frame in Hawaii, instead of using the Polynesian method of tying with sennit.
The almost universal bambu floor of Asiatic cottages, is found in occasional use.
An interesting variation in the walls of the thatched house is shown in Fig. 43,
where the braided palm leaves are much closer knit than is usual in the Polynesian
use of this leaf. The girl of Nine (Savage Id.) in the foreground is holding a leaf of
the ap^^ a gigantic form of kalo.
New Guinea. — Sailing south from the Pelew group we come to the great island
that we call New Guinea because there is no colledlive native name. Hostile tribes, many
of them pradlically unknown to this day, speaking dialeAs mutually unintelligible, most
[234]
FIG. 43. WOVEN WALLS OF NIUE HOUSE.
New Guinea Villages.
51
of them cannibals ordinarily or on occasion, with Polynesian settlements dotted along
the northern coast, and with dialeAs almost as many as the villages, small wonder that
the architecture seems fantastic and subject to no rule I Pile dwellings built out from
the marshy shore, much as the lake dwellers of central Europe built six thousand
years ago ; tree dwellings high up in the free growing trees of a tropical climate, and
FIG. 44. NEW GUINEA VILLAGE.
between these extremes almost every light and flimsy pattern of house building, from
the hut hardly large enough to shelter a single specimen of the naked people of the
Papuan race, to the communal house several hundred feet long gathering beneath its
huge roof people enough to fill a good sized village — as New Guinea villages go. We
could fill a scrap book with pictures of the bizarre struc^tures the explorer meets, but it
would be only a scrap book, and we must be content with a bit here and there seen
much as a bird may be supposed to see houses in rapid flight.
Even if we knew all about the ways of construction, the materials used and the
necessities governing the final result, this would not be the place to enlarge upon the
subject which might fill volumes. We can only glance here and there, with the aid
[235]
52
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
of photographs, of which there are many more at hand than there are memoranda of
material or adlual uses of the piAured dwellings, for almost all explorers of the present
time go provided with cameras, and bring back good or at least interesting results,
some of which I am still to present here. I will be as brief as possible, for I am
impatient to come to my chief subject, the housebuilding of the old Hawaiians, and
. ^.
Ubi^Mfi
^^f^ '-
0fu
FIG. 45. A VILLAGE STREET IN NEW GUINEA.
I have not the privilege of turning over the pages until I come to desired matter, as
my readers have.
First the pile dwellings : many have been the discussions as to the why of this
very ancient method of establishing one's house, but it is fair to suppose that not one
rule applied to all the races in widely separated parts of the earth, and whether it was
protection from enemies, human or animal, or the more insidious but not less deadly
forces arising from a marshy country, or merely convenience for a boating and fishing
race, and for the scavenging needs of humanity, we care not now; we have merely to
recount the fact and manner of these Pacific pile dwellings (which, as we shall see, are
not confined to damp or watery regions) .
[236]
New Guinea Pile Villages.
53
There are many ancient voj^ages, especially among the Dutch, that give us
accounts of the pile villages more or less distinct, but we may pass them by, for the
men of New Guinea still build in many places precisely as did their remote ancestors.
It is to be noted that as the scale of humanity descends many characteristics of what
was once considered the peculiar property of animals, instinct, appear in human works ;
FIG. 46. SACRED HOUSK AT DOREI, D'URVILLE.
early habitations differed little for many generations, but resembled their archetype
almost as closely as the cell of the honey bee in our modern hives resembles that of
Hybla's honey-maker. I shall, however, quote from Dumont D'Urville,^' who, three
quarters of a century ago, gave his readers a glimpse of one of these villages on Geel-
vink Bay, off Dorei in the northwestern part of Dutch New Guinea :
Chaque village renferme de huit ^ quinze maisons 6tablies sur des pieux : tnais chaque maison
se compose d'une rang^e de cellules distinctes, et revolt plusieurs families : Quelques-unes de ces
maisons contiennent une double rang^e, de cellules s6par6es par une couloir que r^gne dans toute
leur 6tendue. Ces Edifices, entiferement construits en bois grossi^rement travaill6 sont perc6s de toutes
parts ^ jour et branlent souvent sous les pas du voyageur.
^ Voyage de la corvette L'Astrolabe ex^cut^ par ordre du Roi pendant les ann^s 1826-1829 sous le command-
ment de M. J. Dumont D'Urville, Capitaine de Vaisseau. Histoire du Voyage, Tome Quatridme p. 607. Paris, 1830-33.
[237]
54
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
This author also gives a remarkable plate of a sacred house at Dorei built on
carved piles over the water, but gives no sufl&cient description. The portion of the
plate showing the house is reproduced in Fig. 46. I am informed, however, by a recent
traveler" that this house no longer exists.
I turn now to the opposite end of New Guinea, and quote as my authority a man
who has done much to increase our knowledge, not only of that part of the great island
geographically, but has intimately known the people whom he went to teach. Reverend
FIG. 47. VILLAGE ON DUAU.
J. Chalmers. I met Mr. Chalmers (Tamate, as the natives affectionately termed him)
in Sydney a short time before his martyrdom at the hands of a cannibal tribe, who
knew not their true friend, and I was much impressed with his modest sincerity and
great knowledge of his people. He has written all too little, but in one of his later
writings^^ we find :
Early in the afternoon, after passing the river Vailala, we anchored at Kaili, twenty-two miles
from Port Moresby, with 450 inhabitants. Kaili is charmingly situated at the head of a spacious
bay. This is the second entirely marine village I have visited. It consists of fifty houses built
on long poles in shallow water. There are four rows of these dwellings, the teacher's being th« last.
The church which stands apart between two rows, is connected with Reboama's [the teacher]. The
road to church is merely one row of poles stuck in the sea, cross-sticks connecting the sacred edifice
^^ Mr. Thomas Barbour, who has made many important observations in that region.
'^Work and Adventure in New Guinea. J. Chalmers and W. Wyatt Gill. London, 1885.
[238]
New Guinea Villages.
55
with the first row of aerial dwellings. It must be a ticklish thing to walk to church by such a road.
There is no communication between the other rows except by canoes or swimming.
We entered one or two curious dwellings. Their valuables consisted of grass petticoats, arm-
lets, spears, clubs, axes and nets, with a few earthenware pots for cooking. The only reason
assigned for erecting these marine villages is fear of their inland foes, and that their fathers did so
before them. The church, like all other dwellings at Kaili, is a frail construction of sticks, sides and
roof thatched with sago palm leaf. It is spacious, but has neither pulpit nor seats. As we paced
up and down inside, it gently swayed to and fro in the breeze. These sea-villages have one obvious
advantage over those built ashore — they are free from mosquitoes.
Passing on our way eastward, we saw a number of old piles, indicating the original site of
Kaili before they were driven away by the Manukolo. Later on we anchored at the village of Kapa-
kapa, consisting in truth of two hamlets half a mile apart, thirty -three miles east of Port Moresby.
FIG. 48. HOUSE IN MILNE BAY.
This is my third Swiss-lake-like village in New Guinea. It has a population of 450. loane, a native
of Savage Island (Niue) , is their teacher. I was struck with a hut standing apart from all others in
the middle of the bay, and learned that it was built by a man who had quarrelled with all his friends!
Fowls and hogs are fed and evidently thrive, in these remarkable dwellings. Our boat was pulled
between the rows of dwellings, Mr. Chalmers occasionally throwing a handful of small pieces of
tobacco into the sea. Men, women and children all dived down for that coveted prize, and in a
friendly way contended for it. After dark on the same eventful day. Captain lyiljeblad succeeded in
making Hula, a distance of fifty-two miles from Port Moresby.
Hula, like Tupuselei, Kaili, and Kapakapa, is built in the sea. It contains about 600 people.
With our clerical friend I went in a canoe, through this long village, or rather two villages. Wish-
ing to look at some of their houses, we climbed — not without some diflBculty — up onto a platform ten
feet above the sea. On this wretchedly insecure place they dance every night by torchlight. By
day the younger members of the family sit and smoke there, regardless of the hot sun. Beyond is a
shaded place for the parents. Climbing up a short ladder, you enter by a small door into their only
sleeping apartment, which is very dark. A portion of it, however, is marked off; here the daily
[239]
56
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
cooking is done, the accumulated ashes preventing the house from catching fire. The flooring is
made from the sides of old canoes well adzed and secured to the framework of the house by rattan
cane. One would surmise that their bones would be sore with lying through the night on bare
boards : such, however, is not the case. Their ornaments and petticoats, weapons and chatties,
hooks, lines and seines, are all in their proper places. The thatch is either of sago or nipa-palm
leaf. All along, outside the ridging, sprouting cocoanuts are kept ready for use. Ornaments occa-
sionally dangle from the extremity over the doorway. I noticed everywhere small oysters adhering
to that part of the mangrove which is submerged : these become poisonous through contact with
the mangrove.
Each dwelling in Hula is connected with the next by means of a single loose plank. A rail
sometimes assists the hand in steadying the body of the adventurous traveller. It was interesting to
observe how they ran from one house to another in perfect safety. We too achieved the feat, not,
however, without fear of getting a ducking.^s [Loc. cit., p. 281 et seq.]
FIG. 49. NEW GUINEA PILLOWS.
Kerepunu is a magnificent place, and its people are very fine-looking. It is one large town of
seven districts, with fine houses, all arranged in streets, crotons and other plants growing about,
and cockatoos perching in front of nearly every house. [P. 40.]
The brief glimpse of Kerepunu, a village on the mainland, shows that the love
of ornamentation, a strong trait of the Papuan race, there materialized in ornamental
plants and birds, the former a difficult thing to manage about houses perched over the
sea. The houses themselves, as everywhere in New Guinea, are still on piles. The
tree houses, to which we shall come presently, are only built on gigantic, living piles.
To return to our missionary leader who has sailed from the mainland some twenty miles
to Wari (Teste of D'Urville) a small island where the natives make great use of human
bone in their rather unpleasant ornamentation, and he thus describes their houses :
Their houses are built on poles, and are shaped like a canoe turned bottom upwards, others
like one in the water. They ornament their houses on the outside with cocoanuts and shells. The
^ I had a good photograph of one of these pile villages but it has been misplaced, and a friend who promised me
others to replace it has not yet fulfilled his promise ; so I must ask my reader to imagine one of the ordinary villages
built on land but still on piles, to be in a season of flooding, for the construction of the houses is much the same.
[240]
Bone Decorations.
57
nabobs of the place had skulls on the posts of their houses, which they said belonged to the enemies
they had killed and eaten. One skull was very much fractured ; they told us it was done with* a
stone axe, and showed us how they used these weapons. [P. 42.]
All through the Pacific there is a close relationship between men and pigs, not
merely social but religious. In Hawaii not only was the pig a domestic pet, frequently
taking the child's place at the human mother's breast, but when the poor relics of
humanity were placed on the altar as a sacrifice to the gods the pig almost invariably
FIG. 50. LONG HOUSE IN NEW GUINEA.
accompanied them, the order of immolation being first a layer of pigs, then of human
bodies face downward, and a repetition of this until the pile was complete. In this
group also the vicarious sacrifice for a man was a black pig, a white cock and a red
fish. The connexion was not confined to the Polynesian race, but was quite as strong
among the darker-skinned races of the Great Ocean. In the Aroma district of New
Guinea, Chalmers tells us :
Pigs' skulls are kept and hung up in the house. Food for a feast, such as at house-building,
is placed near the post where the skulls hang, and a prayer is said. When the centre post is put
up, the spirits have wallaby, fish and bananas presented to them, and they are besought to keep
that house always full of food, and that it may not fall when the wind is strong. [P. 84.]
Compare the centre-post of the Maori whare. From the same authority we read:
When they go on trading expeditions, they present their food to the spirits at the centre-post
of the house, and ask the spirits to go before them and prepare the people, so that the trading may
be prosperous. [P. 85.] [^4^]
58
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
The illustration of the village on Duau (Normanby Island of the D'Entre-
casteaux group), Fig. 47, shows both the coconut decoration of these Papuan houses
and also the human skulls, five of which appear on the horizontal bar across the gable
of the house on the extreme
right of the piAure. It is prob-
able' that the coconuts are a
modem substitute for skull,
which they certainly resemble,
and in some remote villages this
substitute has not yet obtained.
No worse, my readers, than the
ancient customs on Temple Bar
and many a city or castle gate
in England ! Generallj^ trophies
of conquest, in some places the
skulls are the relics of dear
relations. Chalmers tells of a
widow who carried about with
her in a small basket the skull
of her dead husband, and as this
husband had five wives, three
inferior ones had the finger, toe,
and other small bones drilled
and strung as necklaces, while
the fifth widow wore only his
hair (p. 290). Different from
the Hawaiian and Fijian who
buried the bony relics, at least
those connedled with house con-
secration, here they are all above
ground and in the light of day. The neat construAion may be noted in the illustra-
tion. On piles, though not in the water, the ground plan is a narrow oblong and the
roof is exceeding steep, out of all proportion to the walls of the house. The gable
ends overhang the thatched walls which may be plain or decorated.
In the house in Milne Bay, shown in Fig. 48, the roof is more barrel-shaped,
and covers a platform or verandah to which access is had both by a direct ladder and
an inclined plank. The basement is fenced to keep out animals, and mostly closed in with
[242]
FIG. 51. A TREE HOUSE IN NEW GUINEA.
New Guinea Pillows.
59
mats. The household work is generally done out of doors, or in wet weather beneath the
house, which, like the Hawaiian, serves mainly for sleeping purposes. We have given
illustrations of the Samoan, Tongan and Fijian pillows, and it is well to give the fan-
tastic forms affedled by the Papuan of New Guinea, for these articles, as on the other
groups mentioned, form
with the sleeping mats
one of the most universal
and important portions
of the house furniture,
where the house is chiefly
a sleeping apartment, and
in New Guinea they curi-
ously correspond with the
fantastic designs of the
houses. The animal form
is everywhere noteworthy
(Fig. 49), from the ante-
diluvian reptile on the
top of the row to the non-
descript figure second
from the left extreme.
Like those already fig-
ured these pillows are for
the neck and not the head,
whose curious capillary
dressing would ,be great-
ly disturbed by an ordi-
nary pillow. Most of
these pillows are from
eastern New Guinea and
the adjacent islands.
Chalmers gives us so much information, often in unexpected places, that I am compelled
to quote from him, picking up bits here and there. At Maiwa, on the Gulf of Papua:
They have good large houses, kept wonderfully clean, with sleeping benches in all of them.
In front of many of the houses are nicely kept flower gardens. The largest houses are built to rep-
resent an alligator with open mouth : the platform in front of the house is the lower jaw, and the long
shade over the platform the upper, so that standing on the platform you stand in the alligator's mouth,
the house sloping to appear as a body. One house, to be used as a temple in one of the inland vil-
[243]
FIG. 52. TREE HOUSES IN NEW GUINEA.
6o
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
^^m
lages, was about 150 feet long, very high, with carved posts, and in front overhead a beautifully
decorated shade, with long pendants of different kinds of leaves. [P. 135.]
The centre post in every house is sacred to Kaevakuku, and her portion of food in every feast
is first offered there. The first fruits belong to her. [P. 152.]
Their dwellings, as ever>'where else in New Guinea, are built on piles about eight or ten feet
above the ground. They are substantially built, but singularly arched. The house of each chief is
furnished with a platform, about two feet from the ground, covered with a handsome cupola, but
open at the sides, and floored with split bamboo.
Here the men meet to discuss their tribal affairs.
Between the houses are small enclosures of young
areca palms, betel-pepper plants, variegated cro-
tons, red cordylines and other shrubs. [P. 273.]
The thatch used for the roof and sides of their
houses is the leaf of the sago palm, which is not
(as in Polynesia) sewn on to the small rafters, but
pressed down firmly by long poles secured to the
framework of the house. [P. 274.]
From the dead piles to the living tree
seems not a long step, and we find all along
the New Guinea coast illustrations of this
habitation. The one represented in Fig.
51 is not one of the highest, but shows the
general construdlion better than any view
that I have in mj^ collection, and marks the
transition from pile to tree. In this case the
tree or trees, no longer living, serve merely
to raise the house above the position of con-
venient attack ; the house is well built and
skilfully balanced on its supports, while
the lower platform serves for a cooking ^^^' ^^'
place or a general rendezvous. The frame of a similar structure intended for a Dubu
or club house for young men is shown in Fig. 53. In this case the elevated position
of the building seems not so much for protedlion as for privacy.
I have referred to the communal house, common enough in this region, and a piAure
is given in Fig. 50. It is a long, bam-like struAure, imposing by its size rather than by
any grace of architeAure. Perhaps the more common mode of entrance is at the ends,
where the doors at either end are conneAed by a long passage from which the many
apartments open on both sides. A family occupies one or more rooms, and the privacy is
reasonably observed : each has its own hearth and provides its own food. I have not seen
any statement as to the course pursued in building or keeping in repair this large habita-
tion. Communal houses are common in the East Indies. See also, for the entrance. Plates
XXIV and XXV- [244]
CLUB HOUSE FOR YOUNG MEN.
Kiriwina Houses. 6i
Kiriwina Group. — ^The Kiriwina or Trobriand group lies southeast from New
Guinea and seems in some measure a prolongation of the great island. In curious
forms of dwellings it rivals New Guinea, although the population of the principal
island, Kiriwina, is largely Polynesian. The houses, as may be seen in Figs. 54 and
55, are mostly roof. In the former illustration there is a little basement, slight vertical
curve in the roof, and two end doors : while the whole gable end is of ornamental con-
struction like those on Kusaie. So narrow is the house that, judging by the human
FIG. 54. HOUSE FRONT IN KIRIWINA.
figure in the foreground, a man could hardly lie across the floor. The gable of the
house on the left shows the texture of the projeAing roof, and there seems a distinct
basement as well as an elevated platform. The whole scene has the effect of a stage
setting. In the second illustration the horizontal curvature of the roof is well shown,
as well as the careful ridge-covering. The gable ends seem imperforate and are not
thatched, so that the house proper must be very dark and probably used only for bed-
room, like most Polynesian houses. The house on the left seems to have a roomy
but unoccupied basement, while that on the right has a distinct porch protected by a
light roof. All the houses are placed in a close grove of coconuts which may partly
account for their narrow ground plan. I cannot trace in the few photographs in my
collection any connection with the general Polynesian house, but explorations are
needed sorely in all this region to clear up the connection of the Polynesian inhabi-
[245]
62
The Anaent Hawaiian House,
tants, said to number many thousand, with their brethren to the eastward. It is too
true that this entire archipelago has been strangely neglected by scientific explorers.
As the two piAures which I present were taken in recent years, although I cannot fix
the exact date, it is evident that modern and foreign changes have not made much
headway, and doubtless much remains of the olden time.
FIG. 55. A KIRIWINA VILLAGE.
New Hebrides. — Passing to another group of Papuan cannibals (for however
much the missionaries have done to eradicate this great stumbling block to timid
explorers, there are many left who enjoy a feast on their fellow men, not merely at
their fellow men's expense) we have some very interesting records from the camera
of the Reverend J. H. Lawrie, for some time a missionary in this region, through
whose kind introduction to residents of the group I owe much of my information about
the New Hebrideans and a collection of many of the least known objects of their
manufacture. Three of the photographs of Mr. Lawrie, Figs. 56-58, show a low type
of hut of the rudest construction (Fig. 56) hardly as neatly built as a skilled wood-
man would build his temporary camp. When, however, the fact that these people are
very dirty is considered, the flimsy nature of their habitations, by no means so well
built as most birds' nests, may be advantageous for a more ready purification by fire.
As the people become more civilized and consequently cleaner, the house shares in the
change (Fig. 57), and although the thatching is still rude, there is a greatly improved
plaited reed front and definite doorway.
[246]
FIG. 56. ORIGINAL TYPE OF ANEITEUM HUT.
FIG. 57. ANEITEUM HUT WITH REED FRONT.
64
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
On the island of Malekula (Mallicolo) the form is very similar, and has a certain
resemblance to the ruder of the Hawaiian grass houses. The people of this island are
perhaps the worst cannibals in the New Hebrides, but their appetites do not seem to
have improved their condition, — whether from the poor quality of their food, or their
own insusceptible nature, cannot easily be determined. They are a people small in
stature, light in bone, and with remarkably prognathous jaws, a low type. A little
FIG. 58. VII«I«AGE IN MAI,EKUI«A.
farther in the onset of foreign influences and the front is made of boards and utterly
loses its native interest. This process of "amelioration" has already destroyed the
houses of the aborigines and substituted throughout much of the Pacific region, non-
descript sheds.
The rude framing and coarse thatch are well shown in Mr. Lawrie's piAure of
house thatching on, I believe, the island of Tanna. The neighboring buildings look
very modern, but there is no mistaking the native work, and primitive work, on the
house in process of construAion. Fig. 59.
When we consider that Nitendi, of the Santa Cruz group in the New Hebrides,
was discovered by Mendana in 1595, and was the seat of that miserable attempt at
[248I
New Caledonian Houses.
65
colonization where the same year the Spanish discoverer died, and for many years this
archipelago has been a field for attempts at colonization by the French, it is surpris-
ing that so much still remains unaltered by grafted customs and fashions ; that we
have anything to call aboriginal. Plate XXIII shows two forms of rude hut on Santo.
FIG. 59. THATCHING A HOUSE IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.
New Caledonia. — Passing for a moment the Solomon Islands, also a dis-
covery of Mendaiia on a previous voyage, we must notice the curious and divergent
houses of the French colony of New Caledonia. In the voyage of D'Entrecasteaux
in search of La Perouse is the most detailed account of the houses of the New Cale-
donians, but the illustration is poor and the description too imperfect to show much
more than that the modern habitations of these people are essentially the same that
existed four generations ago: a circular hut with a conical roof without terminal orna-
ment (see Cook, below), covered on both sides and roof with grass thatch, and with
fairly high door, of which the jambs are often decorated with carving. Cook gives us
the better account, in fact the best we have of the New Caledonian houses of the olden
time, before foreign fashions had affeAed them (Second Voyage, II, 121):
Memoirs B. P. B. Museum, Vol. II. No. 3.-5. L^49j
66
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Their houses, or at least most of them, are circular: something like a beehive, and full as
close and warm. The entrance is by a small door, or long square hole, just big enough to admit a
man bent double. The side walls are about four feet and a half high ; but the roof is lofty, and
peaked to a point at the top ; above which is a post, or stick of wood, which is generally ornamented
either with carving or shells or both. The framing is of small spars, reeds, etc., and both sides and
roof are thick and close covered with thatch, made of coarse long grass. In the inside of the house
are set up posts, to which cross spars are fastened,
and platforms made, for the conveniency of laying
anything on. Some houses have two floors, one
above the other. The floor is laid with dry grass,
and, here and there, mats are spread, for the prin-
cipal people to sleep or sit on. In most of them
we found two fire-places, and commonly a fire
burning ; and, as there was no vent for the smoke
but by the door, the whole house was both smoky
and hot, insomuch that we, who were not used to
such an atmosphere, could hardly endure it a
moment. * * In some respects their habita-
tions are neat; for, besides the ornaments at top,
I saw some with carved door-posts.
The two storeys recall the houses of
the Gilbert Islanders, and it is unfortunate
that Cook did not tell us more about the
means of getting up stairs. Probably the
close atihosphere made observations of the
interior very difficult. The ornamented
peak seems to have disappeared in the more
modern houses, as similar shell decorations
have gone out of fashion with the gables
of the Fiiians.
J FIG. 60. NEW CALEDONIAN HOUSE.
Solomon Islands. — From Dr. Guppy, who had opportunities to make observa-
tions on many islands of the Solomon group, we take the following rather fragmentary
account of the houses he found :^^
The villages in the eastern islands of the group vary much in size. They usually contain
between 25 and 40 houses, and between one and two hundred inhabitants. * * In the larger vil-
lages the houses are generally built in double rows with a common thoroughfare between ; and the
tambu house usually occupies a central positions. * * The usual dimensions of the dwelling-house
are as follows : length 25 to 30 feet, breadth 15 to 20 feet, height 8 to 10 feet. The gable roof, which
is made of a framework of bamboos thatched with the leaves of pandanus trees, or of cocoa-nut or
areca palms, is supported on a central row of posts. The sides are low and made of the same ma-
terials as the roof. The only entrance is by an oblong aperture in the front of the building, which
^The Solomon Islands and Their Natives, by H. B. Guppy. London, 1887. p. 57.
[250]
Houses of Solomon Islanders.
67
is removed 2j4 to 3 feet above the ground, so that one has literally to dive into the interior, which
from the absence of any other openings, is kept very dark. Such are the dimensions and mode of
structure of an ordinary dwelling house in 4:he eastern islands. The chiefs, however, have larger
buildings, which in some instances * * * rival in size and in style the tambu-houses themselves.
Many houses have a staging in front, which is on a level with the lower edge of the aperture that
serves as the entrance. On this staging, protected by the projecting roof, the iamates are wont to
sit and lie about during the day; and the men occasionally pass the night there. In the houses of the
chiefs and principal men, there are generally spaces partitioned off for sleeping and containing a raised
FIG. 61. SOLOMON ISLANDS HOUSE.
stage for the mats : but in the dwelling-house of an ordinary man no such partitions usually occur.
Single men sleep on the ground on a mat, which may be nothing more than the leaves of two branches
of the cocoa-nut palm rudely plaited together. Each man lays his mat by the side of a little smoul-
dering wood-fire, which he endeavors to keep up during the night, and for this purpose he gets up
at all hours to fan it into a flame.
Of furniture there is but little except the large cooking-bowls, the mats, and a circle of cook-
ing stones forming a rude hearth in the centre of the floor. I have seen in temporary sheds or
*4ean-tos*', erected by fishing parties on the southern island of the **Three Sisters", fire-places
formed of a circle two or three feet across of medium sized Tridacna shells, the enclosed space being
strewn with small stones.
* * I am not aware how long a native house will last. The white residents, however, tell
me that houses built for their own use, which are more substantial than the ordinary native dwel-
lings, will stand some five or six years ; and that, notwithstanding the heavy rainfall of this region,
the thatch remains admirably waterproof.
[251]
68
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
* * In the villages of Treasury and the Shortlands, the houses are arranged in a long
straggling row ; and although close to the beach they are for the most part concealed by the trees
from the view of those on board the ships in the anchorage. In the materials used, ip their style,
and in their general size, these houses resemble those of St. Christoval and the adjacent smaller
islands. A thatch made of the leaves of the sago-palm or of the pandanus, covers the gable-roof and
the framework of* the walls. The usual dimensions of a dwelling-house are : length 25 to 30 feet,
breadth 12 to 15 feet, height 10 to 12 feet. * * The residence of Mule, the Treasury chief, was one
of the largest native edifices that I saw in the Solomon group. It is a gable-roofed building, meas-
uring about 80 feet in length, 50 feet in breadth, and 25 to 30 feet in height. The front of the house
which is at one of the ends of the building, has a singular appearance from the central part or body
FIG. 62. PII,E DWELLINGS IN FAURO ISLAND.
of the building, being advanced several feet beyond the sides, a style which is imitated in some of the
smaller houses of the village. Its interior is very imperfectly lighted by small apertures in the walls. * *
In the two principal villages of Faro, or Fauro, which are named Toma and Sinasoro, a num-
ber of the houses are built on piles and raised from 5 to 8 feet above the ground, as shown in the
accompanying plate [Fig. 62]. But this custom is by no means universal in the same village, and
depends, as far as I could learn, on the personal fancy of the owner. Both these villages are situated
on low level tracts bordering the sea ; but their sites are free from moist and swampy ground, to the
existence of which one might have attributed this practice. The houses built on the ground are
about 30 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 12 or 13 feet high ; whilst those raised on piles are considerably
smaller, measuring 22 by 15 feet in length and breadth, the building itself being supported on a
framework of stout poles lashed on the tops of the piles by broad strips of rattan. These pile dwell-
ings are reached by rudely constructed steps made after the style of our own ladders. The roofs of
the houses in these villages have a higher pitch than I have observed in houses of the other islands
of the Straits. Their eaves project considerably beyond the walls and the roof is often prolonged at
[252]
Houses of the Solomon Islanders. 69
the front end of the building forming a kind of portico. A neat thatch of the leaves of the sago-palm
covers the sides and roof of each building.
With regard to the internal arrangements of the houses in this part of the Solomon group,
but little remains to be said. In many houses a portion of a space is partitioned off for sleeping
purposes, usually one of the corners ; in others, again, the interior is divided into two halves by a
cross partition. More attention is here paid to the comfort of repose than on the eastern islands.
In the place of the single mat laid on the ground, they have low couches, raised a foot to eighteen
inches above the floor, on which they lay their mats ; whilst a round cylinder of wood serves them
as a pillow. These couches, which the natives can improvise in the bush in a few minutes, are
usually nothing more than a layer of stout poles, such as the slender trunks of the areca palms,
resting at their ends on two logs.
In the Tambu-houses of St. Christoval and the adjoining islands we have a style of building
on which all thg mechanical skill of which the natives are possessed has been brought to bear.
These sacred buildings have many and varied uses. Women are forbidden to enter their walls ; and
in some coast villages, as at Sapuna in the island of Santa Anna, where the tambu house overlooks
the beach, women are not even permitted to cross the beach in front. The tambu houses of the
coast villages are employed chiefly for keeping the war-canoes, each chief being allowed, as an
honorable mark of his position, the privilege of there placing his own war-canoe ; but in the inland
villages, thes buildings are of course no longer employed for this purpose. Another use to which
these buildings may be put is described on page 53, in connection with the tambu house of Sapuna
in Santa Anna, in which are deposited, enclosed in the wooden figure of a shark, the skulls of ordi-
nary men, and the entire bodies of the chiefs.
The front of the tambu-house in his native village is, for the Solomon Islander, a common
place of resort, more especially toward the close of the afternoon. There he meets his fellows and
listens to the news of his own little world ; and it is to this spot that any native who may be a stranger
to the village first directs his steps, and on arriving states his errand or particular business. In mx
numerous excursions, when thirsty or tired, I always used to follow the native custom in this matter,
being always treated hospitably and never with any rudeness. The interior of these buildings is
free to any man to lie down in and sleep. On one occasion, when passing a night in an inland village
of St. Christoval, I slept in the tambu-house, the only white man amongst a dozen natives. Blood-
shed, I believe, rarely occurs in these buildings; and they are for this reason viewed somewhat in
the light of a sanctuary.
And now we come to the connecting link, a gruesome one, that binds the build-
ers of important, not alone sacred, houses throughout the Pacific, from Hawaii to New
Zealand, from Fiji to the Solomons — the human sacrifice. And again the bond between
the man, at least the savage man, and the pig already referred to. Returning to our
author we read :
The completion of a new tambu-house is always an occasion of a festival in a village. The
festival is often accompanied by the sacrifice of human life ; and the leg and arm bones of the victim
may be sometimes seen suspended to the roof overhead. In the tambu-house of the village of Makia,
on the east coast of Uji, I observed hanging from the roof the two temporal bones, the right femur
and the left humerus of the victim who had been killed and eaten at the opening of the building;
and similarly suspended in the tambu-house of the hill-village of Lawa on the north side of St. Chris-
toval, in which I passed the night, I noticed over my head as I lay on my mat the left femur, tibia and
fibula, and the left humerus of the unfortunate man who had been killed and eaten on the completion
of the building twelve months before. At these feasts there is a great slaughter of pigs that have
[«53]
70 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
been confined for some previous time in an enclosure of strong wooden stakes, which may be allowed
to remain long after the occasion for its use has passed away. After the feast the lower jaws of all
the pigs consumed are hung in rows from the roof of the building. In one tambu-house I remember
counting as many as sixty jaws thus strung up.
The style of building and the size and relative dimensions of the tambu-houses are very simi-
lar in all the coast villages of the eastern islands, a correspondence which may be explained from
the necessity of the structure being long enough to hold the large war-canoes. As a type of these
buildings, I will describe somewhat in detail the tambu-house of the large village of Wano, on the
north coast of St. Christoval. Its length is about 60 feet and its breadth between 20 and 25 feet.
The gable roof is supported by five rows of posts, the height of the central row being some 14 or 15
feet from the ground, whilst on account of its high pitch the two outer lateral rows of posts are only
3 or 4 feet high. The principal weight of the roof is borne by the central and two next rows,
each of which supports a long, bulky ridge-pole. The two outer lateral rows of posts are much
smaller and support much lighter ridge-poles. In each row there are four posts, two in the middle
and one at each gable-end. These posts, more particularly those of the central row, are grotesquely
carved, and evidently by no unskilled hand, the lower part representing the body of a shark with its
head upwards and mouth agape, supporting in various postures a rude immitation of the human
figure, which formed the upper part of the post. In one instance, a man was represented seated on
the upper lip or snout of the shark, with his legs dangling in its mouth, and wearing a hat on his
head, the crown of which supported the ridge-pole. In another case the man was inverted, and
whilst the soles of his feet supported the ridge pole, his head and chest were resting in the mouth of
the shark. * * * The roof of the Wano tambu-house is formed of a framework of bamboo poles
covered with palm-leaf thatch, the poles being of equal size, whether serving as rafters or cross-
battens, the latter affording attachment for the thatch. The same materials are used in the sides of
the building. With reference to tambu-houses generally in this part of the group, I would remark
that they are open at both ends, with usually a staging at the front end raised about four feet from
the ground, which may be aptly termed *'the village lounge". The tambu-house of the interesting
little island of Santa Catalina or Orika — ^the Yoriki of the Admiralty chart — is worthy of a few specia
remarks. Its dimensions are similar to those of like buildings in this part of the group, the length
being between 60 and 70 feet. Placed in front of each of its ends are three circles of large wooden
posts driven into the earth, each circle of posts being 4 or 5 feet in height and enclosing a space of
ground a few feet across, into which are thrown cocoa-nuts and other articles of food to appease the
hunger of the presiding deity or devil-god. The ridge-poles and posts are painted with numerous
representations in outline of war-canoes and fishing parties, of natives in full fighting equipment, of
sharks, and of the devil-god himself, with a long, lank body and a tail besides. * * * Some of the
representations on the ridge-poles were of an obscene character. . The central row of posts were de-
faced by chipping, which I was informed was a token of mourning for the late chief of the islard,
who had died not many months before.
The deification of the shark again is a link binding all the islands together, and
it is not surprising that people whose daily food is taken largely from a tropical sea,
and who must often have encountered these predaceous fish should have sought to
in some way propitiate them. I will not stop here to discuss the fact that the people
of some groups while recognizing the divinity of some sharks (as on Hawaii) still
pursued the fish as legitimate game, — indeed it was the only game the Hawaiian chiefs
had to tax their courage and skill. On the Solomon Islands the shark god had better
[254]
Australian Houses.
71
treatment, as is shown by the carved representations of him and the use of his image
to preserve the remains of the dead chiefs.'^
I hope that this description of the uses of the tambu-houses will explain A\hy I
have referred to them so fully, for they are really the "living rccm" of the male portion
of the population, as well as their guest chamber or parlor. The wet climate of these
islands would make the raised platforms, which are the lounging places in the
eastern Pacific, and the lightly roofed gathering places in the central region, useless
the greater part of the year.
FIG. 63. AN AUSTRALIAN HUT.
Australian Houses. — We seem to have reached the bottom in the Pacific scale
of civilization when we come to the work of the Australian Blacks in house building.
A couple of forked sticks set up eight or ten feet apart with a ridge pole between the
crotches is all the frame, and the stringy-bark tree furnishes the rest in the shape of
great sheets of bark skilfully removed and laid against the frame in such direction as
to ward off rain or wind. In reaching a new camp it takes but little time to build the
wooden tent. A few handfuls of grass or leaves make a lair little, if any, better than
a wild animal would scrape together.
Some of the explorers of Australia found something better than this general
type of bark hut : Sir Thomas Mitchell in exploring the Gydir region found huts
^^On aU the groups that I have knowledge of the sacred nature of the shark does not prevent the use of his
dried skin for drum-heaas as on Hawaii, or for files or rasps as on the Gilbert Islands and elsewhere.
[255]
72 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
tastefully distributed, over-shaded by the flowering wattle, each dwelling semicircular
or circular, the roof conical, and from one side a flat roof or portico supported on two
posts extended ; these were covered with reeds, grass or boughs. P6ron found partly
subterranean houses, and others have found framed structures. The more common type,
however, was the bark-covered hut which best suited the nomadic life of the people.
I hope that one thing has appealed to my readers as it has to me, — the never
wearisome simplicity of even the rudest shanty built by the Australian blacks. Never
a touch of the commonplace in their villages such as is overwhelming in most of our
American towns where the house is sufficiently durable, comfortable for its inmates,
and an ample proteAion from the weather, but utterly devoid of the piAuresque. A row,
perhaps, of stiff, unlovely cottages each a duplicate of the others, built by contract to
make as much show with as little money as possible ; the piAure is familiar enough
in the suburbs of most cities. Hardly more pleasing if more imposing, are the blocks
of brick or stone, — even if the stone be a veneer of costly marble, — that line street after
street of every large city.
In the Pacific islands most villages seem delightfully diversified : there is little
pretentiousness in each house, the grouping among the trees or along the shore is
often what no real artist could improve. True, to the praAical being of many artificial
wants, from a civilized city, the one-roomed shelter would hardly seem a proper stable
for horses or odormobile, but to the islanders the almost empty space is pervaded by
that most useful of furniture, contentment, and then the house is fully furnished.
The ephemeral nature of the stick and thatch building is typical of the village
also, for the frequent wars are generally followed by the destruction of the town of the
vanquished, and the remnant of the tribe builds elsewhere rather than clear up the
ruins. Or, it may be, a war-vessel of some Christian nation comes among the islands
and for some wrong, real or fancied, shells the town. Again some tribes desert the
house in which the owner dies, and in which he may be buried. It is not surprising
that the home sentiment hardly exists under these circumstances. While in Australia
the tribes were nomads the limited extent of the Pacific islands confine the wander-
ings of the people to narrow bounds, and a greater change of abode can only be by
emigration, and legendary history tells us this has again and again taken place, as
when the Maori went from Hawaiki to Te ika a Maui as their congenors the Moriori
had done long before.
Even the old Hawaiian village in spite of the likeness of its houses to hayricks,
and its frequently bare exposure, had a fitness to its surroundings, it was never a blot
on the landscape. The only complete Hawaiian village I have ever seen was in the
[256]
Hawaiian Village.
73
valley of Kalalau on the island of Kauai. Remote and difl&cult af access, it remained
uncontaminated by foreign fashions until a few years ago when the attraAions of city
life drew its few remaining inhabitants to Honolulu, and the frail houses fast perished.
It perished, however, a true and unchanged Hawaiian village whose kind will never
again be seen in the valleys of these islands. Let us now study these departed houses
of the old Hawaiian, gathering from those who saw and described them in the earlier
part of the last century what they can tell us and filling out the account as well as
may be with the results of personal observation.
FIG. 64. VIEW MADE ON KAUAI BY COOK'S ARTIST WEBER.
[257]
FIG. 65. HOUSES OF KALAIMOKU IN HONOLULU.
The House in Hawaii.
The Hawaiians were no exception to the general rule that primitive peoples
in a mountainous country make their dwelling in caves to some extent. In this group
the volcanic mountains offer many facilities to the troglodyte ; for the innumerable
lava streams that have coursed down their slopes abound in bubbles and conduits
often of great extent, and while the superficial streams are so porous as to allow the
rains to percolate through their whole mass, the subjacent ones are often more
compact and contain dry chambers made accessible on the valley slopes by the erosion
of ages, so that there are few, if any, mountain gorges without caves. From abodes of
the living they have generally become the last resting place of the dead, and being
for that reason carefully sealed up and concealed, are not noticed.
In time of war, — and in the old days that was nearly all the time on some part
or other of the group, — caves were the refuge of the old people and children, and the
Hawaiian annals, like those of more civilized warring nations, are stained with terri-
ble massacres of such refugees by means of fires at the cave mouth. Some of these
caves of refuge extended from the village to the sea like the well-known one at Kailua,
Hawaii ; others reach a long distance up the mountain slope and have several entrances.
Molokai, the often used battle ground of the chiefs of Oahu and Maui, was noted for
its cavernous hiding places, and legend tells of many caves where umekes, arms and
other native treasures are still hidden, the kahu or keepers all silent in death. In the
solitary valley of Moanui are said to sleep the ancient Moi of Molokai, each laid in
his canoe as our Norse ancestors were laid in the long ship before the barrow was piled
above it. Landslides have quite covered the mouth of these royal sepulchres, and only an
earthquake more potent than is common on the group is likely to reveal their secrets.
More habitable than common caves were those large lava bubbles where the
roof has fallen in admitting the daylight and air, and such still offer a comfortable
camping place as the author has many times found in his explorations, and as lately
as in the sixties of the last century, they were used in Puna by the mat makers. They
were cool and, lighted by the open roof, had the agreeable effect of the Pantheon at
Rome with its hypaethral dome.
Not a few of these open caves contain markings on the walls^* and other
indications of former inhabitants, but at present none is in use save for burial, and
^' I trust that these curious markings or figures which are found aU oyer the group, even beneath present high
water mark, wiU be fully described and illustrated by Mr. John F. G. Stokes who has given them much study.
[259] <«'
76
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
these may be more fully described in the chapter on Hawaiian methods of disposing
of the dead.^^
The eariy houses, confining that word to superterrene struAures, were doubtless
rude tabernacles of branches {hale kamala) that reappear in the temporary structures
of camping parties of the present day in the Hawaiian wilds. Unluckily palm leaves
were not abundant^° as in the East Indies and the Western Pacific, and most other
leaves in drying cease to shelter. Native banana served as temporary shingles and
the tough leaves of the ki {Cordyline terminalis) when properly applied were some-
what more durable. It is not difiicult to imagine these poor dwellings of the early
inhabitants, although neither record nor piAure remains, but the house into which
they developed in the increasing leisure and desire for comfort, we have more knowl-
edge of, and will attempt to describe, although in the advance of foreign invasion even
these have nearly passed, and the few that remain are looked upon as curiosities. Forty
years ago Honolulu was well dotted with these thatched houses, as has already been
mentioned, but when we look to the only native annalist, whose work dates some thirty
years farther back, we shall perhaps be surprised at the little he knows about Hawaiian
house building, or at least deems worthy of mention. There have been made several
translations of the Chronicle of David Malo,^' but it is best to give here the original
with a literal translation of his description of the house : —
MOKUNA XXXIII.— No NA Hale, me na
MEA AI ME KA HOOMANA.
1 . O ka hale kekahi mea nui e pono ai ko
ke kanaka noho ana ma keia ola ana a me ka
wahine, me na keiki, me na makamaka, me na
mea e ae e hookipa ai.
2. He mea maikai ka hale, he mehana, he
mea pale aku i ka ua, a me ke anu, a me ka la,
a me ka wela. Ua noho nui no nae kehahi poe
lapuwale ma na hale pono ole me ka manao he
hale pono ia.
3. O ke ana ka hale o kekahi poe, o ka lua
ko kahi poe, o ka loupali ko kahi poe, he puha
laau ko kahi poe, he hale kamala ko kahi poe.
Chapter XXXIII. — Concerning Houses,
THEIR FURNISHING AND DEDICATION.
1. The house was an important and good
thing for a man's residence and health with his
wife and children, his friends and those who en-
joyed his hospitality.
2. A good thing was the house for warmth
and a shelter from rain and cold, daylight and
heat. Many were the foolish people who lived
in wretched houses but thought them good
enough.
3. A cave was the house of some folk, a pit
of others, a sheltering cliff, a hollow tree of some,
of others a shanty. Some attached themselves
^ A plan of such a cave has, however, been given on page 166 of the present volume in illustration of the
hiding place of a choice lot of old Hawaiian carvings.
^There were only three species of palm, the Coconut, brought probably by the early immigrants and never
very abundant, and two species of the Loulu (^Pritchardia gaudichaudii and P, martii)^ the latter fan palms and not
so suited for constructive purposes as the pinnate fronds of the coconut. It has been suggested that the coconuts
might have drifted here, but the currents that bring pine logs from the northwest coast of America surely would
not bring coconuts.
4' The latest, by Dr. N. B. Emerson, was printed by the Trustees of this Museum in 1903.
[a6oJ
Malays Account of House Building.
77
O ka hoopili wale aku malalo o ka poe mea hale
kekahi, ua kapaia ko lakou inoa he o keia pili
mai, a he unu pehi iole. O ke ano o keia mau
inoa, he lapuwale aka. Aole pela ka noho ana
o ka poe lapuwale ole, e hana no lakou i hale
penei e hana ai.
4. K pii aku no ma ka nahelehele me ke koi
a kua i na laau a pau a lawe mai o ka pou na
laau pokole, o ke oa na laau loihi, o na pou hana
he kiekie laua e like me ke kiekie o ka hale a
ke kanaka i manao ai, pela ke kiekie o oia mau
laau.
5. O na kukuna ma na aoao o ka hana, he
haahaa iho ia, o ke kaupaku, he laau loihi ia e
like me ka loihi o ka hale ana i manao ai, pela
no ke kaupaku o kuaiole, he laau ia maluna iho
o ke kaupaku; o na halakea oia na kia e ku ana
maloko o ka hale ; o ka aho he laau liilii ia ;
pau na laau o ka hale.
6. Eia kekahi, a auwahaia na pou a pau,
he auwae ma ke alo o ka pou he wahi oioi ma
ke kua o ka pou e ku ana iluna pela no ua oa e
hana ai, he auwae ma ke alo o ke oa, he mana-
mana ke kua o ke oa, i wahi e komo ai ka mea
oioi maluna o ka pou i paa, a pau alaila, e ku-
kulu ia ka hale penei e kukulu ai.
7. K kukulu, mua ia na pou kihi, a paa ia
mau pou, alaila kauia ke kaula, mai keia pou
a keia pou, maluna kahi kaula, malalo kahi
kaula, a ike ia ke kaulike o na pou keia pou,
keia pou.
8. Alaila, e ana ia ka wa mawaena o keia
pou keia pou a i keia ka likepu, alaila, kuku-
luia na pou a pau oia aoao, a paa ia poe pou,
alaila, kukuluia kekahi aoao, a paa ia poe pou,
alaila, kauia ka lohelau ma ka waha o ka pou,
mai keia pou kihi a keia pou kihi.
9. Alaila, hoaia ka pou me ka lohelau; a
pau ia, alaila, kukuluia na pou hana, a paa ia,
kauia ke kaupaku a paa ia i ka hoaia i ke kaula,
kukuluia, na halakea, kauia na oa a pau a ana
ia kahi e moku ai maluna o na oa a pau.
10. Alaila, kuu hou ia na oa a pau ilalo a
okioki ia keia oa keia oa, a kalai ia luna o na
oa a uuku a hoopoheoheo ia ko luna o na oa a
pau. Alaila, kau hou na oa a pau iluna, a paa
to those that had houses, such were called * *o kea
pili mai" or **unu pehi iole'*. These were dis-
reputable terms. Not so did those who were
not disreputable live, they built themselves
houses in the following manner.
4. The man must go up to the mountain for-
est with his adz and cut down such timber as he
needs; then he must carry it down on his back.
The posts were short timbers, the rafters long
sticks and the pou hani were long posts that
when set up determined the height of the house
the man had planned.
5. The kukuna on the sides of the pou hani
are shorter as they approach the corner. The
ridge-pole is a long stick as long as the builder
plans the house; the upper ridge-pole (kua iole)
is as long as the ridge-pole and lashed above it;
the halakea are the posts inside the house; the
aho are small sticks; this is all the house timber.
6. Then is cut a notch on every post, on the
front of the post a projection is cut and back of
this a jog in which rests the plate and the rafter
which has the end filed into two prongs which
ride astride the projection on the post. Both
posts and rafters have notches to hold the lash-
ings. When the house is framed it is set up.
7 . The corner posts are set up first and made
fast. Then a rope is stretched from post to post,
a rope at the top, a rope at the bottom, so each
post is put in line with all the others.
8. Then space the posts that they be equi-
distant from each other; then set all the posts of
one side and make them firm, and those of the
other side in like manner; then the plates are
put on the posts in the groove, from one corner-
post to another.
9. Then were tied together the post and the
plate, and the pou hana set up and made fast to
the ends of the ridge-pole. Then the halakea
were put in place and the rafters put up and
marked at the top where they should be cut off.
10. Then they took down again the rafters
and cut on this and that rafter a neck with a
head on the upper end of all the rafters. Then
they were lashed together and to the ridge-pole.
[261]
78
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
ia i ke hoaia, kauia ke kuaiole maluna iho o ke
kaupaku.
1 1 . Alalia, kau hilo ia ka hale a pau, alalia
hoahoia, a paa i ka aho, alalia akola i pill paha,
he lal paha, he lau ko paha, ala uo 1 ka mana o
ana pela, pela no e ako ai a paa.
12. Alalia kaupaku a paa, pau ia hana ana,
alalia hana i puka, a pau ia, hana 1 pani, penei
ka hana ana, e auwaha ka laau maluna a me ka
laau malalo a awaawaa waena, alalia hookomo
ke poo o na papa ma kela auwaha keia auwaha
o na laau moe aoao.
13. Alalia, houhou i ka iwi kanaka ma kela
poo ma keia poo, ma ka auwaha, a ma kia 1 kui
laau, a humuhumu mawaena 1 ke kaula a paa,
alalia, i mau laau 1 elua, mao o ka puka a maa-
nei o ka puka, e pill ana maloko o ka puka e ku
ana iluna a maloko o laila e hooholo ai ke pani,
a pau ia hana ana e hanala ka pa laau a pau ia.
14. Alalia, kiiia ke kahuna pule nana e
pule ka oki ana o na mauu maluna o ka puka o
ka hale (he kuwa ka inoa oia pule), a pau ka
pule ana, alalia komo ka mea nona ka hale a
noho ma kona hale me ka oluolu.
15. He hana mau no ka pule ana o ke ka-
huna ma na hale o ka poe noho pono a pau a me
kona alii, a me ka poe hanohano, a me ka poe
koikoi, a me ka poe noho kuonoono a pau.
16. Aka o ka poe lapuwale a pau, aole e
hana pela, e komo wale no ko lakou hale he
hale lillii ko lakou makemake, e waiho koke
mai no ke kapuahi ma kahi kokoke 1 ko lakou
poo, e waiho koke mai no na ipu ma ke poo;
hookahi no hale o lakou, pela no ko lakou
noho ana.
17. Aka, he okoa ka noho ana o ka poe
hookuonoono, a me ka poe noho pono, a me ka
poe koikoi, a me ka poe hanohano, a me na'lil,
e hana no kela mea pono keia mea pono, i mau
hale no lakou iho me na wahine a lakou.
18. £ hana no i hale e moe pu ai me ka
wahine me na keike a e hana no 1 mau hale a
[262]
and the kuaiole was made fast above the main
ridge-pole.
1 1 . Then the house was drawn tightly to-
gether with ropes and the aho tied on all over
the house: then the thatch was put on, grass
perhaps, ki leaf perhaps, sugar-cane leaf per-
haps, as the owner thought fit, and so the
thatching ended.
12. Then was thatched the ridge-pole and
the doorway made; this done the door was taken
in hand and a rabbet made in the cross stick
above and the cross stick below, and a hole made
in the centre; then the ends of the boards were
fitted in these rabbets resting upon the trans-
verse pieces.
13. Then were drilled, with human bone,
holes at both ends through the board and trans-
verse pieces, and wooden pegs driven in; cords
through the central holes bound the end strips
together; then two sticks were placed one on this
side, one on that, and between these and within
the doorway the door swung. This work com-
pleted, a wooden fence was built about the house.
14. Then was called in the priest to make a
prayer at the cutting of the bunch of grass left
hanging over the doorway of the house (kuwa
was the name of that prayer), and when the
prayer was ended the owner of the house entered
and settled with comfort.
15. This business of the prayer by the ka-
huna for the house was in use by the good
citizens, the chiefs, respectable men, people of
substance and those well-to-do.
16. But the foolish people did not so, but
entered their houses without ceremony ; they
only wanted a small house in which to sleep with
the fire-place near their head, and a calabash
ne^r at hand; only one house had such people,
and so they lived.
17. But in a different way lived the well-
to-do folk, and the people who lived comfortably,
the men of property, respectable men and the
chiefs, each one built enough houses for him-
self and for his wives.
18. He would build a sleeping house for
himself, his wife and children, and large houses
Ellis* Account. 79
nui no kela hana no keia hana a ke kane, a for work by men and others for work by women,
no kela hana keia hana a ka wahine; he halau also a canoe house, a high house and a hottse in
kekahi hale, he aleo kekahi hale, he amana form of a cross,
kekahi hale.
19. Pela ka noho ana o ka poe kuonoono a 19. Such a way of living among the wealthy
pau, oia ka pono a ka poe kahiko o Hawaii nei seemed good to the ancient Hawaiians and they
i manao he ponoia i ko lakou manao ana. deemed it respectable.
I greatly dislike to interrupt the quaint old annalist, but this is all he has to
tell us about the house itself, and we can return to his story and carry it to the end
of the chapter when we come to the interior of the finished house ; at present we must
see what that fine old missionary the Rev. William Ellis wrote about the Hawaiian
building as he saw it in his tour around the island of Hawaii at the very beginning
of the American missionary efforts on this group.*'
The houses of the natives whom he had visited today, like most in this part of the island [Hilo
district], where the pandanus is abundant, were covered with the leaves of this plant, which, though
it requires more labour in thatching, makes the most durable dwellings. The inhabitants of Waia-
kea are peculiarly favoured in having woods producing timber, such as they use for building, within
three or four miles of their settlement, while the natives in most parts of the islands have to fetch it
from a much greater distance. In neatness and elegance of appearance their houses are not equal to
those of the Society Islanders, even before they were instructed by Europeans, but in point of strength
and durability they sometimes exceed them. There is also less variety in the form of the Sandwich
Island dwellings, which are chiefly of two kinds, viz., the hale noho (dwelling house) , or halau (a long
building) nearly open at one end, and, though thatched with different materials, they are all framed
in nearly the same way.
They begin to build a house by planting in the ground a number of posts, six or eight inches
in diameter, in a row, about three or four feet apart, which are to support one side of the house. When
these are fixed in a straight line, they erect a parallel row, to form the opposite side. In the small
houses these posts are not more than three or four feet high, while in the larger ones they are twelve
or fourteen feet in height, and proportionally stout. Those used in the chief's houses are round,
straight, and smooth, being prepared with great cate, but in general they are fixed in the ground
without even having the bark stripped off. Grooves are cut in the top of the posts, along which
small poles are laid horizontally, instead of wall-plates, and tied to the posts with the fibrous roots
of the ie^ a tough mountain plant. A high post, notched at the top, is next fixed in the middle at
each end, and supports the ridge-pole on which the tops of the rafters rest, while, at the lower end,
they are fixed on the wall-plate, each rafter being placed exactly above the post which supports the
horizontal pole, or wall-plate. When the rafters are fixed, small poles are laid along, where they
cross each other above the ridge-pole ; sometimes poles are fastened across like tie-beams, about
half way up the roof, and the separate parts of the whole frame are tied together with strong ciriet,
made of the roots of the ie plant, or fibres of the cocoa-nut husk. The space between the posts at
the sides and ends is now closed up with sticks, larger than a common-sized walking-stick, which
are tied with cinet in horizontal lines, two or three inches apart, on the outside of the posts, and
extending from the ground to the top of the roof. A large house, in this stage of its erection, has a
singular appearance. [See Plate XXVII.]
** Narrative of a Tour through Hawaii, or Owhyhee ; with observations on the Natural History of the Sandwich
Islands, and remarks on the Manners, Customs, Traditions, History, and language of their Inhabitants. By William
BUis, Missionary from the Society and Sandwich Islands. (Second edition.) London, 1827. P. 313.
[263]
8o
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
If the sides and roof are of plantain leaf-stalks, and the leaves of the pandanus, or of ti leaves,
each leaf is woven around the horizontal sticks, which gives it a neat appearance, resembling a kind
of coarse matting on the inside, while the ends of the leaves hang down without. But if they are
covered with grass, which is most commonly the case, it is bound up in small bundles, and these are
tied to the small sticks along the side of the wall of the house, with cinet or cord. They always
begin at the bottom and tie on the grass with the roots upward, and inclined toward the inside, and
continue one row above another from the ground to the top of the roof. The roof and sides are
always of the same material, except where the latter are of plantain or ti leaves. The corners and
ridge are sometimes covered with fern leaves [Fig. 66], with which they can secure these parts better
FIG. 66. HOUSE IN WHICH KEELIKOI.ANI DIED AT KAILUA, HAWAII.
than with grass, &c. The shell is now finished, and generally, except in the lowness of the sides
and steepness of the roof, looks much like a hay-rick, particularly as until recently they never thought
of making windows, and had only one aperture, which was the entrance. A large portion of that
end of the halau which faces the sea, is usually open. The houses of this kind were probably origi-
nally erected for the construction and preservation of canoes, for which purpose they are still some-
times used, though frequently occupied as dwellings. In the common dwelling house, the door is
frequently on one side. In the old houses the doors are always low. Since foreigners have resided
among them, and built houses with doors and windows, the natives have enlarged their doors, though
there are yet but few that can be entered without stooping. Some of them also begin to think win-
dows a convenience, but they by no means' fall in with our ideas of uniformity in the disposition of
them. Sometimes we have seen a house forty or fifty feet long, with the door at one end, and a
small window at the other, half way up to the top of the roof. Again, we have entered a house of
[264]
Early Housebuilding,
8i
equal dimensions, and in some parts of it we have seen an aperture within a foot or a foot and a half
of the flaor, generally near their sleeping places. This as well as the other, they call a buka
makani (wind hole), and assign as a reason for placing it in such a situation, that they sometimes
find it close in their houses, and like to hive the wind blow on them as they lie on their mats.
The shell of the house being finished, they proceed to fit up the inside, which is soon accom-
plished, as they have neither partitions nor chambers, and, however large the house may be, but one
room and one floor. In preparing the latter, they sometimes level the ground, and spread grass
over it, which they cover with large mats made of the leaves of the pandanus. But the best floors
are those formed with pebbles, or small fragments of lava, which are always dry, and less likely to
be infested with vermin than those covered with grass.
FIG. 67. HAKAKAU FOR SUSPENDING CALABASHES.
The size and quality of a dwelling varies according to the rank and means of its possessor,
those of the poor people being mere huts, eight or ten feet square, others twenty feet long, and ten
or twelve feet wide, while the houses of the chiefs are from forty to seventy feet long. Their houses
are generally separate from each other : even in their most populous villages, however near the
houses may be, they are always distinct buildings. Although there are professed house-carpenters
who excel in framing, and others who are taught to finish the corners of the house and ridge of the
roof, which but few understand, yet, in general, every man erects his own house. If it be of a
middling or large size, this, to an individual or a family, is a formidable undertaking, as they have
to cut down the trees in the mountains, and bring the wood from six to ten miles on their shoulders,
gather the leaves or grass, braid the cinet, &c., before they can begin to build.
But when a chief wants a house he requires the labour of all who hold lands under him : and
we have often been surprised at the dispatch with which a house is built. We have known the natives
come with their materials in the morning, put up the frame of a^middling-sized house in one day,
cover it in the next, and on the third return to their lands. Each division of people has a part of the
house allotted by the chief, in proportion to its number; and it is no unusual thing to see upwards
of a hundred men at a time working on one house.
Memoiks B. p. B. Mvskum. Vol. II, No. 3.-6. I 26 sl
82 The Ancient Hawaiian House,
A good house such as they build for the chiefs, will keep out the wind and rain, and last from
seven to ten years. But, in general, they do not last more than five years ; and those which they
are hired to build for foreigners, not more than half that time. In less than twelve months after my
own grass house was built, the rain came through the roof from one end to the other, every time
there was a heavy shower.
In some of the islands the natives have recently covered their houses with mud ; this, however,
does not appear to render them more durable.
While idolatry existed, a number of superstitious ceremonies were performed, before they
could occupy their houses. Offerings were made to the gods, and presents to the priest, who entered
the house, uttered prayers, went through other ceremonies, and slept in it before the owner took
possession, in order to prevent evil spirits from resorting to it, and to secure its inmates from the
effects of incantation.
When the house was finished, it was soon furnished. A sleeping mat spread on the ground,
and a wooden pillow, a wicker basket or two to keep their tapa or native cloth in, a few calabashes
for water and poi, and some wooden dishes, of various size and shape, together with a haka^ were
all they required. This latter article was sometimes like a stand used by us for hanging hats and
coats on. It was often made with care, and carved, but more frequently it was a small arm of a tree,
with a number of branches attached to it. These were cut off within a foot of the main stem, which
was planted in some convenient part of the house*^ and upon these natural pegs they used to hang
their calabashes, and other vessels containing food. They generally sat on the ground, and took
their food near the door of their house.
The old Hawaiian was a shore-dweller that he might be near his chief animal
food, — the fish so abundant about the coral reefs that fringe his island home. Wherever
the hard black lava line retired to form a bay, or made a breakwater behind which
sand might collect to form a beach there a village could be seen. And even where the
lava cliffs made canoe landing difficult, as in parts of Puna, Hawaii, there, that he
might be in touch with the ocean, he hoisted his canoe up the cliffs by means of rude
davits. Today his descendants have flocked to the foreigners' town and the piAuresque
little bays and tiny beaches are deserted unless they happen to be a convenient landing
to the nearest sugar plantation, and a few piles of stones and perhaps a clump of coconut
trees tell the tale of the former fishermen who made a comfortable living by catching
fish for his family, or to exchange for other needed things, and to supply his chief.
Near the mouth of the valleys that on every island of the group cut into the
mountain mass on every side the old Hawaiian planted his kalo in the ponds so in-
geniously supplied with water, and farther landward he had his plantations of sweet
potato, waoke and olona, but his chosen home was still near the sea that had borne
his ancestors in their long journey from Kahiki : in this new land it was still the con-
neAing link with the old home which it took him many generations to forget amid
the pleasanter circumstances of his new world. We do not find in the ancient songs
any glimpse of homesickness' and seldom are these songs tinged with darker shades
*^ These haka or hakakau were often placed outside the house on the kahua or platform as may be seen in
Plate XXVIII. Their common form is shown in Fig. 67.
[266]
Selection of Timber. 83
of flight from enemies^^ or banishment, as often predicated of the immigrants by
guessers at their origin.
They lived on the shore and their little world was bounded by mauka (towards
the mountain) and makai (towards the sea), and on that ground timber was neither
abundant nor suited to housebuilding. They had planted Hau {Paritium tiliaceum)
and Kou {Cordia subcordatd) for shade, and the Ulu (Breadfruit, Artocarpus incisa) and
Niu (Coconut, Cocas nuciferd) for food, but none of these is suited for building. The
native shore vegetation in most of the Polynesian islands is scant and mean. Immi-
grant weeds have everywhere landed like the Polynesians themselves, but higher up the
mountain slopes, as high as vegetation reaches are dense forests of very valuable trees,
mainly of hard wood, and to these forests (nahelehele) the intending builder must go.
In seleAing a log for carving into an idol, of course priestly magic played its
part, and dreams and omens direAed the seeker ; so the canoe builder trusted to his
god, the friendly little elepaio {Chasiempis)^ to indicate a proper tree neither worm-eaten
nor decayed, but I cannot say with certainty that any such supernatural intervention
was required in the seleAion of the few sticks of limited size used in the framing of an
Hawaiian house. The priest {kahuna)^ who, in the infancy of a people, always has a
finger in every concern of his fellow men that conduces to the increase of his power or
property, had doubtless selected the position of the intended house, that is, determined
what our Chinese neighbors would call its ftmg shui or lucky outlook ("wind and
water" rules), and had been duly paid with mats, kapa, coconuts, bananas, pigs, fish
or such other portable property as he most desired or his client was best able to pay,
and he seems to have allowed the man a respite until the work of building was com-
plete when he again intervenes, as we shall see later on.
The seleAion of timbers was nevertheless no haphazard choice. The old
Hawaiians had a remarkable knowledge of trees and plants ; they gave them names
and exploited their useful qualities in a way that their descendants have wholly for-
gotten. They were not likely to pick out a tree that was not durable, and they had a
building requirement that the posts and conneAing rafters, forming with the ground
a pentagon, should be, so far as each set went, of the same kind of wood ; with this
exception*^ they were free to use any durable and otherwise suitable wood. The best
houses, however, were generally built of naio {Myoporum sandwicense Gray), uhiuhi
■♦^The tale of Paao and others was of self-banishment and sorrow at leaving home, but there is little repining
in the land which gave them a refuge.
*'This arrangement must be followed or they would not be able to live quietly and comfortably in the house.
i have been pointed out to me where this wise precaution had been neglected by the builder or his contractor,
and the owner could not live in the house until the aefect had been remedied. In cases where the kahuna had made
Cases have been pointed out to me where this wise precaution had been neglected by the builder or his contractor,
and the owner could not live in the house until the aefect had been remedied. In cases where the kahuna had made
a mistake in the location nothing but a complete removal of the unfortunate house would set things to rights with
the gods or t' ' *
hard to suit.
the gods or their legates the priests. I have been told of one house that had to be moved twice, the gods were so
ard t
[267]
84 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
{Caesalpinia kauaiensis Mann), kauila (^Alphitonia excelsa Mann) , mamane {^Edwardsia
chrysophylla^ ^ kamani {^Chrysophyllum inophyllum) and koa (^Acacia kod)^ although the
last was used more for canoes than for house timbers. Ohia lehua {Metrosideros
polymorpha^ was used in inferior houses, and lama {Maba sandwicensis) in houses built
for the gods. See the illustration (Fig. 95) of the hale lama below in the account of
the modern grass houses.
So far as I have been able to discover, the ancient Hawaiians had no house-
building guilds such as were common among the southern Polynesians and embraced
a full system of master builders and apprentices. Doubtless at first each man, with
the help of his neighbors, built his own simple house. He went up to the forest and
coUeAed the timber little by little ; brought it down with the help of his wife and
children and perhaps his friends. When it was all on the ground he had what in
New England, not many decades ago, would be called "a raising bee", when all his
friends assembled to lend a hand in raising the frame and thatching the house.
Doubtless he regaled his helpers with poi and baked pig or dog as did the New Eng-
land farmer with cider, pies and doughnuts. If the owner of the house happened not
to be akamai in housebuilding (skilled in the art), he would doubtless call to his aid
a kuenehale or man whose knowledge of house carpentry was greater than his own to
tell how long and how far apart the sticks should be, and that there was, in later time
at least, some definite and well-known rule about all this, is shown in the remarkable
similarity of interspaces as well as timber sizes in all of the scores of native houses
I have examined all over the group.
A chief had many kuenehale among his retainers, as he was likely to have
artisans of the few sorts known among the Hawaiians, and when he desired to build a
house, under their direAion some men went to the forest for trees from which to shape
the house timbers, others to collect the long slim sticks needed in great quantity for the
aho^ others to braid the cord that was to hold the frame together and attach the thatch
to the aho, while others collected the pili grass for thatching.
The timbers were not fashioned in the forest, except so far as to cut a neck at
one end to which the rope used in dragging the log down could be made fast. Most
of the timbers could, however, be carried on the shoulders of the muscular old
Hawaiians. When on the ground they were generally hewn into a uniform surface
with the stone adzes, although in poorer houses I have seen posts simply stripped
of bark, if this had not been torn off in the dragging over a rough trail. In most of
the woods enumerated as preferred for house building it was important to cut away all
the sapwood to insure the durability of the posts. The illustration given will show
[268]
Tools Used in Building.
85
the adze marks in the hewn timber (Plate XXVI, and Figs. 77-82), and these were
never covered with sennit as in Tonga and Samoa.
The stone adzes were the principal tools used in all the house framing, although
fire was used at times in felling trees. When foreign tools came to the Islands they
were not at once popular : the
adze, they said, was too heavy
(for men who swung a ten-
pound stone adze-head I); and
when the superior durability of
the metal was acknowledged,
the native carpenters still kept
the au or handle of the stone
tool and used plane irons at-
tached with coconut cord in
the ancient way. I have seen
old canoe makers use a foreign
adze to roughly excavate the
canoe log and then return to
the old stone koi to put the
proper finish on their work.
In cutting the deep
notch in the rafters a stone
file was often used, and the
ever useful pump-drill (Fig.
68), a tool common through-
out the Pacific, served to bore
the holes for the pins in the
door. To dig the post holes
the universal 00 or digger, a
tough stick of convenient length sharpened at one end like a duck's bill, was used.
Not a hammer, not a nail. As in the building of Solomon's Temple, "there was neither
hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building." We
may add that the general confusion of tongues and shouting among the many workers
would have smothered the rat-tat of a dozen hammers.
In place of nails or screws the Hawaiians used cords of various sizes (Plate
XXIX) for fastening together the different parts of a house. The largest aha of
braided coconut fibre served as cable for the stone anchor of a canoe : a size nearly as
[2691
FIG. 68. HAWAIIAN PUMP-DRILL.
86
The Ancient Hawaiian House,
large fastened the outrigger to the ama and these to the gunwale of the canoe. Then
came the size used to tie the principal framework of the house together. Smaller cord
attached the aho to the rafters and posts, and still smaller fastened the tufts of grass
to the aho in thatching. The size was also regulated by the strength of fibre : thus a
cord of olond was stronger than one of coconut fibre of equal size, and the latter
stronger than one of twice the size made of grass.
FIG. 69. BALL OF BRAIDED GRASS.
While men were cutting the timber in the forest on the mountain side, others
were twisting or braiding cord and winding it into balls often twelve or eighteen inches
in diameter, as shown in Fig. 69. On most of the groups this cord or sennit making
was pastime of the elderly men whose product was always in demand, and I have else-
where^^ noted the ingenious method of winding sennit which has been adopted by
modem spinners as the best form (Fig. 70). Ellis mentioned ieie fibre as used in the
Hilo district, where it was abundant. The house from Kauai re-ereAed in the Bishop
Museum, which is fully figured in Plates XXVI-XXVIII, and Fig. 86, was fastened
together by cord {ahuawd) made from the braided leaves of ukiuki^ a liliaceous plant.
This was made into large balls and used throughout as more convenient to procure than
** Bishop Museum, Occasional Papers I, Director's Report for 1899, p. 22.
[270]
Thatching Material,
87
the coconut fibre which is now never imported as formerly, from the southern islands, and
is not prepared to any commercial extent on this group. Neither olond nor waoke was
used commonly in housebuilding, although cord of hati served in poorer houses.
It is surprising to one not familiar with thatching to see how much grass is
needed for the purpose. I have thatched a house in the forests of Guatemala with
split palm leaves and the material seemed but little bulkier than ordinary shingles.
FIG. 70. POLYNESIAN SENNIT IN NATIVE ROLLS.
but the pili grass for the Museum building made a pile almost as large as the finished
house. This grass {Paspalum orbiadare or Heteropogon con tortus) was common enough
all through the coast region and up the larger valleys, and its colleAion was left to
the women and children. In the congee at the building of a chief's house described by
Ellis, chiefs often remitted a suitable portion of the district taxes in return for especially
fine timber or grass brought by their feudal tenants.
If, instead of grass, pandanus leaf was the thatching material, it was at hand
over almost all the inhabited part of the group, although now nearly eradicated from
regions where cane is cultivated: its use for mat-making was more important than for
thatching. Of the other material occasionally used, as coconut leaves for screens or
lanai roofing, ki plant or sugar-cane leaves, all were in or about the villages. As a rule,
[271]
88
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
I believe, the tenants of a chief had free timber from their chief's land which extended
from the sea to the mountain top, but I am not entirely sure, for my sources of informa-
tion on this point are not quite satisfactory. There was no dearth of wood until the
white man with his all-consuming fires came upon the land, but the difficulty of trans-
portation was sufficient to guard against waste.
We will anticipate a little and leave the coUeAed material on the ground — though
not so long as it would doubtess be left by the builders — and sketch out the skeleton
of the building, much as a modern architect would examine his plans, that the reason
for the forms and sizes of the various sticks and their names may be clear to the reader.
The grass house placed in the Bishop Museum and represented in Plates XXVI
to XXVIII we have seleAed to show the different stages of construAion,*^ but it is
FIG. 71. DIAGRAMS OF HOUSE FORMS.
not the oldest and simplest form, which still existed forty years ago in out-of-the-way
places, and sometimes among the cluster of houses in a chief's residence.
Two posts, the/t7« hanh^ a name which I should translate the working posts ^ were
the earliest portion of any grass house, as they would be of any lean-to camp, and the
rudest hale kamala or shanty. They supported the two ends of the kaupaku or ridge-
pole. The Marquesan house had these three elements, and in that curious house the
rafters reached from the ridge-pole to the wall or the ground, on one side only. In the
oldest form of Hawaiian grass house known the rafters extended to the ground from
the ridge-pole on either side (see the diagram, A in Fig. 71). At first the rafters were
planted in the ground or fastened to stakes. This frame was really a roof, and the
house to this point was only roof. However steep the roof, the interior space was
smaller in proportion as it rose from the ground : only on the ground level could one
enjoy the whole horizontal space the roof covered. This inconvenience led the French
architect Mansard to borrow the roof that bears his name, and the Hawaiian builder to
*^The frame of this house was found in a valley on the northern side of Kauai, by the late W. E. Deverill, and
the owners of the land, Messrs. Knudsen, kindly gave it to the Museum. It is made of Bastard Sandal-wood, Naio
of the natives, and uhiuhi, two very hard and durable woods, and in the opinion of Mr. Deverill, a good judge, must
have been made a hundred and fifty years ago. At any rate the wood shows plainly the marks of stone adzes, and
the complete frame is the oldest I know of. The naio is Myoporum sandwicense ^ and the uhiuhi is Caesalpinia
kauaiensis Mann.
[272]
Form of House.
89
bow his rafters as shown in c of the figure. This was a favorite form of house and is shown
in Weber's sketch on Kauai, made at Cook's first visit to the group in 1775 (Fig. 64).
Very soon, probably, it was found best for the stability of the house to fasten
the lower end of the rafters to a stick of equal length and parallel to the ridge-pole:
this became the lohelau or wall-plate. In the Waimea houses of Cook's time these
plates were raised on posts, where they were on the banks of the Waimea River,
FIG. 72. HALE KAMANI AT LAHAINA.
to- guard against floods, but the floor remained on the level of the plate which thus
became a sill.
The space under this form of house was, in the absence of flood waters, an agree-
able living room for the family (including the pigs, whose close connexion with man
in the Pacific has already been noted), and* this basement room has always been a
favorite with Hawaiians. When the foreign houses were built they were generally
raised on posts some feet from the soil, and in such case the house owner, if Hawaiian,
by preference occupied the space beneath the floor. When the Princess Keelikolani built
her palace in Honolulu, with drawing room and every convenience on the main floor,
which was reached by rather high doorsteps, she preferred to live in the cool basement.
Now, if we suppose the houses of roof only, raised, as shown in Weber's piAure,
four or five feet above the ground, it would be a simple step to lower the floor and cover
[273]
90
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
in the supporting posts with a wall. This change would make the complete house of
which all later ones are modifications. One of the most perfect forms of this typical
house is shown in Fig. 72, a house built by Kauikeaoule (Kamehameha III) for his
sister Nahienaena. The windows are of course foreign
additions/** but the porch in front was quite in accordance
with native style. Other forms of grass houses we shall
notice later, but if we have shown that the skeleton in all
is essentially the same, growing to its full development
by degrees, we are ready to return to our ma'terial and
watch the old natives, clad solely in the malo^ put together
the frame. It is always a fascinating sight to see a house
take shape, and not less so when the active agents are
animated bronze statues.
The best houses were built on a kahua or platform
of stone, usually rounded stone laid dry, but we see in
Fig. 65 that the houses of Kalaimoku, the famous prime
minister of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), were without
this desirable foundation. The two corner posts of the
front were first planted whether in the stone kahua or in
the ground, and they were fashioned, as Ellis tells us,
smoothly for the chiefs and left even with the bark on
for the meaner houses, and the top was cut as shown in
Fig. 73. Most of the old posts I have examined were
not stiiAly smooth but bore the marks of the stone adze as
may be seen in the illustration. The large post shown in
Figs. 74-75 was as smooth as if water-worn. A deep groove
was cut to receive the lohelau or plate : the inside lip of
this groove was cut flat and shorter than the outer one,
which was fashioned into a point to engage the fork of the
rafter which rested on the plate which in turn rested on
the flat back of the post. A chin {auwae) is cut below
the front peak {u/e^^) to hold the lashing as shown in
Fig. 73. . In one case, however, advantage was taken of a projeAion to cut holes through
PIG. 73. THK POU Olf A HOUSE.
^"This house was leased to, and inhabited by, Hon. Gorham D. Oilman of Boston from 1851 to 1861, while he
was a merchant in I^ahaina, Maui, the ancient capital of the group, and to him I am indebted for the interesting
view of this fine house.
*' It was quite in accordance with the spirit of the Hawaiian language to use such terms : ule=penis, kohe=
vagina : but in English we use the terms male and female screw.
[274]
Planting the Posts. 91
which the lashings were passed^" (Fig- 75)- All this shaping has been done while the
timbers were on the ground and doubtless the kuenehale has had the holes dug and
the posts cut to a proper length before the raising. But no : this pole is too long and the
hole has to be deepened not only with the
00 but with a noise as that which over-
threw the walls of Jericho: or the hole may
extend to a large rock, and then the pou
FIG. 74. POU FROM WAIALUA.
has to be cut shorter. All these delays and con-
tretemps are taken with perfect good nature :
time is of little value, and mahope is better than
today I When at last these corner posts are ^i^- 75- pou from waialua.
placed to the satisfaction of the kuenehale, a line is fastened between the posts at top and
bottom, and the other posts, which are of the same shape as the corner posts but sometimes
*°This large pou, which measures 36 inches in circumference and is 9.5 feet long, was found by the Rev. W. D.
Westervelt in a swamp at Waialua, Oahu, and by him given to the Museum. The log is hollow, and was probably
so when first used.
rven to
2751
92
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
less in diameter, are placed in line, with equal interspaces, and firmly fixed in the ground;
the plate, lohelau, is then placed in its groove and temporarily bound to each with cord.
The opposite side is next ereAed, and the old Hawaiians must have had some
diflBculty, in case of a large house, to get the correct position, for they do not seem to
have had the method of the Maori of the hauroki or measurement by diagonals ; at
least, I find no word in the Hawaiian language corresponding to this, and while the
small houses were generally fairly rectangular, the large heiau or temples were often
far from it when tested by the accurate methods of a survey.^'
The gable ends were next taken, and a cord the length from centre to centre of
the comer posts was doubled to obtain the point midway between the posts, where the
highest posts, those that determined the a *•
height and so the pitch of the roof, were
planted, being aligned as were the posts of
the front and back. These pouhanh were
notched on the top to receive the ridge-pole,
and like the carved centre-post of the New
Zealand house, had something of a sacred
character, although not to the extent, per-
haps, of the Maori post. Under one of these
was buried the victim anciently offered to
the gods,^* although some authorities claim one of the corner posts for this honor.
As there is a special name for this posty pou o Manu^ it would suggest that it might be
any convenient post. I have never dug up any bones on the site of an old house, with
a single exception : in my own garden I found the skull of a young male about where an
ancient house stood, but there was nothing to show what post of the house stood where
the skull was found ; and it might have been a simple interment. It is so long since the
custom of sacrifice ceased that probably no bones would remain. By analogy in con-
sidering the custom of the other Polynesians, I am inclined to believe that a pouhand was
the chosen post. Half way between the pouhanh and the poukihi came the kukuna^ posts
planted in the ground and lashed to the end rafters. Stout ropes were then bound around
the house to hold the whole frame tightly together until the rafters were in place.
*'This common measurement is simply this, referring to Fig. 76 : AB = CD and AC = BD, but it is not a rec-
tangle unless AD = CB.
'* While there can be no question that the offering was made to secure the stability of the house, there is
question as to what god the ottering was made. The name of the post at the base of which the victim was placed
was/(?tt o Manu which hardly lightens the diflSculty. Manu was the name of the two gods standing at Lono's door.
Manu, meaning throughout Polynesia a bird, was in mythology applied especially to *'The great Bird of Tane, the
Bird that goes round the heavens." In Hawaiian it is The great wnite Bird of Kane. Among the Maori the kiwi or
Apteryx is called Te manu huna a Tane, **The hidden bird of Tane." On the other hand the Polynesian word manu
means to launch, to cause to float, to establish, and the name of the post may merely signify a memorial of the
founding of the house, a sort of "corner stone".
[276]
FIG. 76. DIAGRAM OF HOUSE PLAN.
Rafters of a House.
93
PIG. 77. UPPER END OP RAPTER.
PIG.
UPPER SIDE OP LOWER
END OP RAPTER.
There were then ten posts that had special
names in every house : two pouhan^, four pou-
kihi and four kukuna; the last were not cut
on the top as the others were. All the other
posts were alike and designated simply pou.
The oa or rafters equaled in number the
front and back posts, and the lower ends were
cut all alike into a heel and fork, the latter
called kohe as it was to fit the ule of the post
(See Fig. 78). They were put in place resting
on the plate and post with the upper end rest-
ing on the ridge-pole, and marked where they
should be cut off above the ridge-pole. They
were then taken down and the upper ends cut
in pairs as shown in Fig. 77. I have already
spoken of the importance of the requisition
that the two posts and two rafters forming a
series should be of the same kind of wood.
I fancy that in the poorer houses, which must
PIG. 79.
UNDER SIDE OP LOWER
END OP RAPTER.
PIG. 80. LOWER END OP RAPTER.
[277]
94
The Ancient Hawaiian House,
sometimes have been made of the ruins of other houses, this was often neglected, and
any odd sticks were doubtless used at times, but I have never noticed in the good
houses I have examined any deviation from this rule. The union of the pair of rafters
above the ridge-pole was an interesting
one, and calculated to greatly strengthen
the roof, for above the projeAing rafters,
which were halved to come into line, and
parallel to the kauhuhu (Fig. 8i, a) was the
kaupaku (b) or supplementary ridge-pole. ^i^- ^i. junction of rafters.
Not only were the four sticks lashed firmly together at the point of intersection, but
between the rafters the two ridge-poles were also tied tightly together (Fig. 8i).
Cross bracing was unknown to the old
Hawaiian as to other Polynesians, and such
braces were not needed and perhaps better
away, for a certain degree of elasticity was
desirable in a grass house that would be
fatal in a boarded house. Only in the Ku-
saien gable (Fig. 42) is the property of the
stiff triangle used to support the ridge-pole,
and then it may have been more in the way
of ornament than as a mechanical device.
While the rafters are being cut the
workmen are tying together the pou all
around the house, leaving only the space
for the door, with aho^ small horizontal
poles about the size of a stout walking-stick,
and at intervals of five to seven inches.
(See Plate XXVII.) When the rafters are
again in place they are first tied together
with the flat sides of the neck in contact
and then made fast to the ridge-poles and
finally to the pou and lohelau. The lower
lashing is well shown in Fig. 82. The at-
tachment of aho is then continued all over
the roof, and in very large houses cross ^i^- ^2. junction of rafter and post.
beams are also added, but this is seldom needed, the aho are so stiff a bracing. Where
the depth of the house requires it, vertical aho are placed between the gable-end posts
to support and stiffen the horizontal aho. How a house looks in this stage is shown
[278]
Thatching the House,
95
in Plate XXVII. It is in fact a huge inverted basket. The long ropes that bound the
frame tightly together are now removed and the spring of the frame tightens all the
lashings in a very satisfactory way. As shown in Fig. 82 the aho are not all tied to
the rafters, but mainly to another pole of about the same size as the aho, which is
lashed at every fourth or fifth row to the rafter as well as to the horizontal aho. This
system saves much cord and seems very firm. The thatching is now in order.
I do not know that a separate guild of thatchers existed in Hawaii, but it is
certain that the corners and doorway were always entrusted to some skilful persons.
FIG. 83. HOUSE NEAR HILO NEEDING A NEW ROOF.
the main thatching being done by friends or neighbors of the owner. It was particu-
larly difficult to make the junAion of the roof and gable walls weather-tight, for the
roof never projeAed beyond the plane of the wall, which was vertical or nearly so.
To close this against rain several devices, more or less effectual, were used, such as
braiding the tufts of thatch together, or bonneting the seam with thicker grass, or,
more commonly, with fern stems and fronds ; the latter device is shown on the house
in Fig. 66; but it seems never to have suggested the safer projecting portion of roof,
shown in the New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Maori and other houses of the Pacific
region. It is not impossible that the hipping of the gable ends as shown in that figure,
and in the illustrations of the house in this Museum, was suggested by the acknowl-
edged difl&culty of making a tight joint ; at any rate the hipped gable seems to have
[279]
96
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
been a later form of roof, and thence to the end of the age of grass houses on these
islands was the more popular one. The rainy Hilo, as it used to be, had houses of
this form in very early times, while in the dryer parts of the group a tight roof was
not so important a matter. That the whole roof leaked when neglected is shown by
the patchwork covering the house given in Fig. 83, from a photograph taken by my
friend Charles Furneaux, Esq.
FIG. 84. HOUSE IN PUNA, WITH LANAI.
Turning from this distressful scene of decayed thatch, which was common
enough in the last days of the grass age, we may set the thatchers at work to cover
our skeleton. The general native word for thatching was ako whatever the material
used; when it was well and smoothly done the term was lole : hence the art of thatch-
ing a house was called lolelau. There were other words used in different parts of the
group, as paihale^ because it was walling in a house ; papai^ because the tuft of grass
being tied to the alio was struck with the left hand to compress it under the cord.
In the neatest houses there was a lining of banana stalks dried, sugar-cane
leaves, or, where the leaf was abundant, of hala (Pandanus) leaves; but this was a
mere appearance of neatness, for it was a capital nidus for the many insects that in this
[280]
Thatching the House. 97
climate infest such houses. The plain grass when lole^ was more desirable, but even
the grass itself was a pleasant harbor by day for countless cockroaches which came
out at night to disturb and pillage. These insects are of considerable size, often two
inches long, and of remarkable agility and keen appetite. I well remember my first
experience with them in a neat grass house in Puna, Hawaii. Father Titus Coan, of
the American Mission, and I were traveling along the shore of that now almost deserted
region, that grand old missionary on one of his pastoral tours, and I availing myself
of his guidance, when we spent a night in a very comfortable native house" (Fig. 84).
As soon as the kukui nut candles and the native stone lamps were lighted, that one of
the younger members of the family, our hosts, might read the bible in the family wor-
ship, the unbidden congregation of cockroaches assembled, and it required the active
services of a lad to brush the great insects from the page which would otherwise have
been covered. When we stretched ourselves on the mat bed, rolled in a sheet of kapa,
we had the better of them, for every time we rolled over several gave up their lives in
loud pops, and in the morning we found windrows of the crushed remains on either
side of each sleeper. They, however, had their revenge, for during the night they ate
so much of my bridle that it could not be used until mended, and the oiled silk lining
of our hats was reduced to bare threads; one of the party had the entire enamel eaten
from his patent leather shoes, leaving rough brown leather. This is one disadvan-
tage of grass houses.
Supposing the lining in place, next the aho, the thatcher begins at a comer
with a very thick bunch of grass which he ties firmly to the lowest aho in such a way
that it extends somewhat around the corner ; the roots are upward, and the cord is
bound in a single turn, and the next tuft quickly placed close at its side. The early
part of this process can be seen in Plate XXVII, as done on the house in the Bishop
Museum. The lower row must lay out on the ground or kahua, if there is one, and the
succeeding ones overlap; the durability of the roof or wall and its impermeability depend
much on the thickness of these successive layers. We have seen that in the Fijian
house the thickness is very great, much exceeding any I ever saw on the Hawaiian
group, but then it must be remembered that I saw this work here only in its decadence.
The simple process of attaching the grass continues from the ground to the
ridge-pole, and then comes another process entirely : the bonneting may be done in
several ways, but the ground and object of each is the same, to so unite the rows of
thatch, which on the peak are quaquaversal, that no water can percolate, or be forced
*^This picture was taken twenty-four years later, when the roof was greatly out of repair, but it serves to show
that a well-built house in that dry region will last a long time, when cared for. It seemed likely to last another
quarter century, but its doom had sounded, and when, a few years later the family removed to town, the old home
soon fell to decay and has long since disappeared, except the kahua or platform.
MBMOOtS B. P. B. MUSBUM, VOL. II. NO. 3.-7. L^"^ J
98
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
in by the wind. Up to this point the skilled thatcher strives rather to make the grass
lay flat and present an even appearance on the inside of the house, if there be no lining,
and the outside is left to look after itself for the present. The method most commonly
used in good houses consists in braiding the half of the grass on each side with a
stiffening of fresh grass until the whole forms a compact roll slightly protuberant.
FIG. 85. GRASS HOUSE WITH NET OVER IT.
(See Plate XXVIII.) Where a trimming of grass or fern is used, as in Fig. 66, the
house at Kailua, so much care is not expended, but reliance is placed on this trimming
to act as ridge-board. The absence of chimney and of all openings except the door
greatly simplifies the work.
The grass on each side of the door is carefully braided both for proteAion to
the grass and for the comfort of the persons passing in or out. In the most modern
grass houses, those built after the advent of foreigners, boards were substituted for the
more difficult finish of braiding.^^ Thatching with grass leaves the aho uncovered
^*This was the case in Kalaimoku's house (Fig. 65) dating from some time about 1835.
[282]
Hawaiian Doors. 99
within the house, not an unsightly finish if the thatch is well laid ; but it must be
remembered that there was not enough light by day from the very small door, to show
the finish, and by night the feeble light of kukui candles, or even of several oil lamps
gave to the aho nothing more than the appearance of dark horizontal lines on a lighter
ground. No wonder then that the interior finish was not an object of great solicitude.
The Hawaiians had a thatching needle (often a rude substitute was used), but
seldom used it except on the raised edgings where it was not always easy to pass the
stiff cord through the thick mass of grass or fern leaves.
When the thatching was complete, it was customary to put heavy nets over the
whole building to compel the grass to dry evenly, and not curl up. This is seen in
the picture of the Museum house (Fig. 85). Two or three days of dry weather sufl&ce
to fix the grass in an orderly way.
The door was a matter of more carpentry than the rest of the house, and its
construction was not easy where there were no sawmills to furnish boards. These must
be hewn from logs, generally split logs of no great size, and fitted to two thicker pieces
of wood the length of the door width, which were rabbeted to receive the boards. To
these transverse pieces the boards were fastened by pegs of wood inserted in holes
bored, according to Malo, by drills made of human bone. To give additional strength
a larger hole was drilled in the middle of the transverse pieces through which a cord
was passed to bind them together.
As to the hanging of the door in olden times there are two opinions : Dr. Emer-
son, in his translation of Malo, says they were arranged to slide, while as I translate
the passage they were swung between two uprights. I have seen in a very old and
poor house the remains of a grooved threshold and a broken bar above which might
have supported a sliding door, but I have never seen any in use, nor can I find any
kamaaina who have. Certainly a sliding door would be convenient in a house like
that of the Hawaiians, but a hinge of coconut cord was simpler, and hence more likely
to have first suggested itself to the primitive builders. I have also seen a pintle
hinge used. We have seen that the Maori houses were provided with neat sliding
doors, generally decorated with carving, but we cannot consider these primitive houses.
The doors of matting — perhaps we should more properly call them curtains or screens
— in Samoa were suspended so as to slide with some small latitude, but generally our
information about such details as door hanging is pitifully scant.
The Hawaiians had a bar to fasten the door from within, which would indicate
a swinging door, but they also had a contrivance to deter uninvited persons from enter-
ing at night, consisting of a heavy stone" suspended over the door by a rope which
"A figure of one of these door stones is given in my account of Hawaiian Stone Implements, Memoirs, I, p. 351.
[283]
lOO
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
passed across the doorway, near the floor, in such a way that an intruder would trip it
from a peg in one of the door posts. The weight of the stone (one in this Museum
weighs 36.7 pounds) was sufficient to kill or at least disable one on whose back it fell.
This man-trap would perhaps be most convenient with a sliding door, but could be so
arranged as to be tripped by the act of opening a swinging door. When the family
FIG. 86. SACRED HOUSE WITH THE KAPU SIGN ACROSS THE DOOR.
were absent the most secure way of fastening the door was by the kapu. The signs of
this universally respedled prohibition were various : two sticks crossed before a door,
as in Fig. 86 ; stick with a tuft of white kapa or a white ball on the tip, planted on
either side, were most usual ; while a coconut tree or a bunch of bananas could be pre-
served from theft by a fillet of white kapa bound around it.
The floor when at its best was of small pebbles carefully leveled and covered
with mats. Commoner were the floors of earth covered with dried grass which mats
kept in place. Such were the floors of the early churches built for the missionaries,
in one of which at Kalapana on the east coast of Hawaii, I have attended and taken
[284]
Fence for the House.
lOI
part in the worship, while whole families, including pet dogs and pigs, rested on such
mats, through the long service, which lasted from nine or ten in the morning until
four in the afternoon. The congregation of that early day has passed away, people
and missionary, and I am perhaps the sole survivor, for the church is now many feet
below the surface of the sea from subsidence of the coast. If I remember rightly one
of the Kailua churches on the same island had the same kind of floor as late as 1888.
A fence around the house so close that the intervening space could hardly be
called a j^^ard was an important part of a decent house. This was made of palings, or
if the country afforded them, as was usually the case, stone laid in a low wall with
FIG. 87. GRASS HOUSE OF THE POORER SORT.
Steps opposite the door. Before describing the religious services necessary to the com-
pletion of a respectable dwelling we may read the account Stewart gives of the building
at Lahaina, Maui, of the houses Keopuolani, the highest chief on the group, had
ordered her men to build for the missionaries who had just arrived at the islands.
Although it is much as already described in these pages, I quote it as confirming the
previous account, and also because forty-four years afterward I occupied a room in the
foreign-built and comfortable house that had taken the place of the rude grass houses, and
learned from the venerable man. Dr. D. Baldwin, who then occupied the mission premises,
much that has helped my later studies of Hawaiian things. Stewart writes (p. 188) :
The men began digging holes for the corner posts, making each house twenty-three feet long
and fifteen feet wide, with a space of fifteen feet between them. The posts are about as thick as the
[285]
I02 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
arm of a man, and after being fastened in the ground are about five feet high. The whole number
on each side of each of our houses is seven. The tops are excavated to admit a pole about an inch
in diameter, which extends horizontally the whole length of the building, and to which the posts are
all lashed with strings made from a small but strong vine [ieie?].
The rafters are as numerous as the posts, and nearly as large, and are fastened to their tops
with strings. The principal strength of the joint arises from an extension of the outside of the post,
two or three inches above the larger and inner part, which is received into a corresponding notch
made in the end of the rafters. The upper ends of the rafters rest on and are lashed to % ridge pole,
supported at each end by a long post reaching from the ground to the peak of the roof. Between
the comers and these middle posts there are others parallel to them diminishing in length according
to the inclination of the roof. These complete the frame of the building. The next business is to
prepare a foundation for the thatch. This is done by lashing small round sticks, at intervals of five
or six inches, to the posts of the sides and ends, from the ground to the ridge pole ; to these the
thatch of grass is tied by strings made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut husk. In the best built houses,
between the sticks and the grass, there is an inner thatch, or lining, of the leaves of the sugar-cane
or banana.
The sequel must be told, and it is one that the small size of the house timbers
should prepare us for.
Native dwellings are objectionable in many respects. The wind, dust and rain find ready access
to ours in every part ; and not only put us to great inconvenience, but often greatly endanger our
health. The leaves of the sugar-cane with which they are lined, and the grass and mats forming
the floors, are secure and appropriate harbours for the mice, fleas and cockroaches which infest this
land, and by which we are greatly annoyed.^^ But were the buildings ever so comfortable for the
time being, their frailty would be an objection: the thatch must be frequently repaired, and the
whole house entirely rebuilt every three or five years [p. 240].
Of the houses of Lahaina, Maui, Stewart writes (p. 182) :
The number of inhabitants is about two thousand five hundred. Their houses are generally
not more than eight or ten feet long, six or eight broad, and from four to six feet high ; having one
small hole for a door which cannot be entered but by creeping, and is the only opening for the ad-
mission of light and air. They make little use of these dwellings, except to protect their food and
clothing, and to sleep in during wet and cold weather ; and most generally eat, sleep, and live in the
open air, under the shade of a kou, or breadfruit tree.
Concerning the houses of Honolulu, then the more fashionable town, he has little
that is complimentary to say :
The houses of the chiefs are generally large, for the kind of building, — from forty to sixty feet
in length, twenty or twenty-five in breadth, and eighteen or twenty in height to the peak of the
roof [p. 137]. [See Fig. 93, p. 109.]
Of the makaainana or common people as distinct from the chiefs, and composing
the bulk of the population he paints a sad-colored but true picture :
The greatest wealth they can boast consists of a mat on which to sleep — a few folds of kapa
to cover them— one calabash for water, and another for poi — a rude implement or two for the culti-
vation of the ground — and the implements used in their simple manufactures. Taro, potatoes, and
** Mosquitoes were not introduced until seven years after this was written.
[286]
Consecrating the House. 103
salt, with occasionally a fish, constitute their general food ; while all else that they grow, or take,
and every result of their labour, goes to meet the series of taxes levied by the king, aud his gov-
ernors, and their own respective chiefs.
Again (p. 152), on the beach south of the mission premises in Honolulu, he reports:
The largest hut I passed was not higher than my waist : capable only of containing a family,
like pigs in a sty, on a bed of dried grass, filled with fleas and vermin. Not a bush or shrub was to
be seen around; or any appearance whatever of cultivation. It was the time of their eviening
repast, and most of the people were seated on the ground, eating poi surrounded by swarms of
flies, and sharing their food with dogs, pigs, and ducks, who helped themselves freely from the dishes
of their masters !
All accounts of the homes of the common people about the towns agree that at
the time foreigners came to these islands after the voyage of Vancouver, the people
were most wretchedly provided. In the country, and along the shores remote from
town, the houses were cleaner and better built, if not much larger. I found, a dozen
years ago, a few miles north of Kailua, Hawaii, a hut such as Stewart describes. An
aged woman was sitting in it (she could not have stood up) and was busy scraping pan-
danus leaves for mats. She was reputed to be several years beyond the hundred mark.
The thatched house of a respectable man may not become a dwelling place until
the kahuna pule or priest has blessed the work ; a tuft of grass remains over the door-
way which he must cut at the time of blessing. This ceremony did not take place
until the house was furnished and the owner quite ready to move in ; in some places,
however, the priest was required to sleep a night in the new house before the owner,
that all evil spirits might be thoroughly exorcised. I do not care here to enlarge upon
this religious rite, as I hope to do that in another place, but I may be permitted to
quote the two prayers given by Dr. Emerson in his notes to Malo, premising that
there was no required formula, each priest using such expressions as the particular
case might suggest. Thus, if the owner claimed descent from some god or demigod
that being was referred to in compliment to the owner : or if the owner was a fisherman
Kuula might properly be invoked to help bless the house, etc.
The priest stood at the door with all the friends and neighbors of the owner
around in readiness for the feast that was to follow, and holding in one hand the stone
adze, and in the other a block of wood, preferably a kapa beater or some other worthy
domestic implement, chopped the grass when he came to the proper place in the prayer.
This tuft shows over the centre of the door in Fig. 85. The tuft was called the ptko
or umbilicus of the house, and the whole ceremony ka oki ana ka ptko ka hale or
cutting the umbilical cord of the house. The Hawaiians observed peculiar ceremonies
at their similar operation on the new-bom child. Other peoples have also observed in
their own way this marking the individual existence of the new life : to mention only
[287J
I04
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
one, the Maya of Central America cut the cord on an ear of maize with feasting and
other signs of rejoicing. Like all recorded Hawaiian prayers they are interjeAional
and often difficult to translate — if, indeed, they have any meaning.
Ku lalani ka pule a ke oloalu i ke akua
O Kuwa wahi'a i ke piko o ka hale o —
A ku ! A wa ! A moku ka piko.
A moku ! A moku iho la !
A moku ka piko i ele-ua, i ele-ao
I ka wai i Haakula-manu la
£ moku !
A moku ka piko o kui hale la
£ Mauli-ola !
I ola i ka Doho-hale,
I ola i ke kauaka kipa mai,
I ola i ka haku-aina,
I ola i na'lii.
Oia ke ola o kau hale e Mauli-ola ;
Ola a kolo-pupu, a haumaka-iole,
A pala lau-hala, a ka i koko.
Amama, ua noa.
In correct form is the prayer of the company to
the god.
The Kuwa cuts the piko of the house of .
He stands ! He cuts ! The piko is cut !
It is cut ! It is cut down !
Cut is the piko, the shedder of rain, shelter from
the water of Haakula-manu, oh !
Cut it !
Cut the piko of your house,
O Mauli-ola !
Life to the house-dweller.
Life to the guest.
Life to the lord of the land.
Life to the chiefs,
Continue the life of your house, O Mauli-ola;
Life to advanced old age, till the eyes are dim,
To the last stages of decay, till borne in a ham-
mock. The prayer is offered. It is free.
Some of the variations in the Hawaiian house may now claim our attention.
In all the main struAure was the same; stick and thatch, posts, plates, rafters and
ridge-pole, but local or individual fancies or needs had their way and an old Hawaiian
village was not always a confused cluster of hayricks. In the first place the pouhansl
were often, in some places generally, inclined from the perpendicular either at one or
both ends of the house, so that the ridge-pole that they supported was appreciably
shorter than the distance between their bases. This was a disposition tending to
strengthen the house frame, and the higher the house the more important such dispo-
sition. This form is shown in Fig. 90, and more definitely in a photograph taken in
1888 (Fig. 89), of an ancient house on the exact site of the priests' houses at the time
of Cook's visit and death. This was between the shore and the sacred tank of the
heiau where Cook was worshipped ; it was deserted and seemed to have been so for
some time, although the frame was sound, only the lashings were decayed. Dr. Ellis,
the assistant surgeon of Cook's ships, g^ves us a piAure of the houses that stood here
a hundred years ago. Fig. 90, and I am inclined to believe that the frame may have
belonged to one of these. Since the photograph was taken the house has disappeared.
It was not a great change, but a great advance, to break the pouhansl and the
kukuna at the level of the lohelau or plate ; carrying this completely around the house,
thus strengthening the walls, and shortening the ridge-pole about one-half. The prin-
[288]
Variations in Structure.
105
cipals still supported the ridge-pole, and the lower portion of the post, set firmly in the
ground, was able to resist the thrust which was distributed to the poukihi also by long
corner rafters (see Plate XXVII). This form was called /«^^. Houses built this way
were somewhat lower than the older double-pitch roofed houses, and better suited to
windy situations. This form was adopted by many of the early settlers, as most con-
venient when surrounded by a broad verandah.
Another early and exceedingly convenient addition to the common grass house
in a land where the people lived so generally in the open air, was the lanai, shown well
FIG. 88. HAWAIIAN VILLAGE ON NIIHAU *. ELLIS.
in Fig. 84: extensions of the rafters continued the roof forward at the same or a slightly
reduced slope. This verandah was, generally speaking, the most comfortable part of
the house. This lanai was often detached as in the Hale Kamani (Fig. 72), and was
sometimes of great size with walls of atap or coconut leaves intertwined, and a nearly
flat roof of similar substance which was intended to furnish shade rather than shelter
from heavy rain.
These coconut leaves (for which in later times date palm leaves were a fair
substitute) were often used as an outside sheathing to the walls, protecting the thatch
in windy situations, but they never became the important house material that they
have been and are in India and the East Indian Archipelago.
In the various accounts of the old Hawaiian houses there is no mention of any
pent over the door in the sloping side. The Polynesians understood the importance
of shielding the door of the house not only from the direct rain but especially from the
[289]
FIG. 89. HOUSE ON THE BEACH AT KEALAKEAKUA.
^^^
'41
v-n-^ ^^
'M^HI^ -j^tSy^*^
1 J^^^^^^^^KL "^ .^H^BP^lKSlflHlH
FIG. 90. ELLIS' VIEW OF HOUSES AT KEALAKEAKUA.
<"*' [290]
Pent for Hawaiian Houses.
107
accumulated downpour of a steep roof. We have seen that the Fijian, even when his
doorway was in the perpendicular wall, formed a pent of thick thatch (Fig. 21). The
Maori at the other end of the ocean projected his gabled roof far over the door ; but no
notice was taken of the contrivance used by the Hawaiians on the sloping side of their
house to keep the water from pouring in at every shower. One piece of evidence re-
mains, a picture drawn by Dr. William Ellis (Fig. 91). In that he shows a projec-
tion almost a porch. As the steep-roofed grass house had disappeared before I came
to these islands, I never saw even the ruins, and no one could tell me how the rain was
FIG. 91. VILLAGE ON HAWAII: W. ELLIS.
kept out ; in the time of Cook's visit, however, the picture was made which solves the
enigma. The arch over the door is to be noticed as it again appears in the later
houses of Kalaimoku on Oahu.
From the abundance of stone on many parts of the group one would expect some
houses to be built with stone walls. The old Hawaiians had a tenacious earth, which
they mixed with the ashes of some plants to make their salt pans water-tight, which
would have answered well to bed the stone, and that they understood the use of this
kind of mortar is proved by the walled-up entrances to ancient burial caves, where the
earth matching the stone it holds in place, is found in order after the lapse of more,
it may be, than a century. While I believe that this construAion was among the
earliest, I have no proof ; and it was not until the early Christian churches were erected
that I am sure of its use. The stone walls of the heathen temples, in more than one
case, were converted into Christian churches by putting on a thatched roof. There was
io8
The Ancient Hawaiian Hoiise,
a similar church in Kona on the opposite side of Hawaii whose stone walls, built pre-
cisely as were the walls of the ancient heiau, toppled down in an earthquake in 1867.
I am told" that there is a small village of stone-walled houses on Maui ; they are sur-
rounded with a thick growth of Lantana which shelters them.
How early the Hawaiians introduced adobe walls, I do not know ; in the early
days of missionary work here, the Chiefs' School was built of large adobe blocks and
thatched : one of these blocks in good preservation is in the Museum. The well- worked
iiiflvk^ . .« lamF^es...^ 1
up ^mis^m^xmx
''^^^■ii<««:^Y.« *'• MiUv^-'^'Uiiwil^H
FIG. 92. HALE KAUILA IN HONOLULU.
mud of the native kalo patch might have early suggested the use of this material on the
dry lee side of the islands. While there are reports of the use of mud to protect the
thatch of the roof, this untidy method was apparently little used, still less was mud used
to plaster the walls, as did the Micronesians on Kusaie, although there the material was
lime mud or plaster. Of all the bizarre materials that the old Hawaiians used for
walls, human bones were least appropriate or desirable. In the Hale Iwi (house of
bones) at Moanalua were built the trophies of a bloody battle, but as new light dawned
upon these people, the bones were quietly buried. Fornander gives a brief account of
*' My authority is Dr. C. Montague Cooke of the Museum staff.
[292]
The House of Bones.
109
this house after describing the "Waipio Kimoku," and it is so illustrative of the times
just preceding the coming of the white men as settlers rather than as explorers or
traders that I quote it in full :^^
Fearfully did Kahekili avenge the death of Hueu on the revolted Oahu chiefs. Gathering his
forces together, he overran the district of Kona and Ewa, and a war of extermination ensued. Men,
women and children were killed without discrimination and without mercy. The streams of Makaho
FIG. 93. STREET VIEW IN HONOLULU, WITH KINAU IN THE FOREGROUND: 1837.
and Niuhelewai in Kona, and that of Hoaiai in Ewa, are said to have been literally choked with the
corpses of the slain. The native Oahu aristocracy were almost entirely extirpated. It is related
that one of the Maui chiefs, named Kalaikoa, caused the bones of the slain to be scraped and cleaned,
and that the quantity collected was so great that he built a house for himself, the walls of which
were laid up entirely of the skeletons of the slain. The skulls of Elani, Konamanu, and Kalakioonui
adorned the portals of this horrible house. The house was called **Kauwalua*' and was situated at
Lapukea in Moanalua, as one passes by the old upper road to Ewa. The site is still pointed out,
but the bones have received burial.
We come now to the transition period when the foreign influence and example
were felt in the native habitations : and we find that native and foreign patterns were
mutual influences, and first we will consider the foreign waj^s and ideas adopted by the
**The Polynesian Race, II, 226. I 20^1
no
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
natives. The introduAion of higher doors was perhaps the first and most general
innovation ; next came the windows, whether voL^r^puka makani^ openings without glass
only for ventilation, and these had been known although not generally used long before,
or the new puka aniani or windows of glass, certainly a wholly foreign introduction
Next, perhaps, were wooden floors and partitions within the house. After that the
house ceased to be native. We have several illustrations of this changing style:
first, the Hale Katiila (house built of kauila wood) which once stood on the street in
1^ 1 * \
W 1 ^
FIG. 94. HOUSE OF KAMEHAMEHA V AT WAIKIKI. HALE LAMA.
Honolulu which still bears the name of this large council chamber or reception room
(Fig. 92). It will be seen from the illustration that while the thatch is attached in
the usual way, the pou or posts are much higher than usual and of squared timber;
but the most foreign touch, apart from the windows, are the cross braces at the top and
between the posts and the plate. It is true that they are too short to greatly stiffen the
frame, but they were never used in genuine native work. The scene is characteristic
of the time (July, 1837), I will quote the description by Captain du Petit-Thouars of this
house (which he calls the house of the Queen Kinau). It must be remembered that
the French officer had come to Honolulu to reinstate the Romish priests who had been
banished by the native government, and had been joined by Captain Belcher of the
Sulphur who was in port at the same time, and the notorious Charlton, British Consul,
and Jones the American Consul, none of them friends of the American Mission, and
[294]
The Hale Kauila.
Ill
the French officer piqued by the firm bearing of Kinau, and the general indifference
of the natives could claim only these three unfriends of the Hawaiians and their
American teachers, so his views of Honolulu are not always agreeable :
La case de la reine, dans laquelle nous eiimes nos conferences avec les chefs, est une des plus
belles; elle est situ^e ^ TE., sous les murs du fort, et auprfes du bord de la mer. Cette maison,
b&tie en bois et couverte d*herbes sfecbes, est plac^e au milieu d'une enciente ferm6e d*une
palissade. La plate-forme sur laquelle elle repose est ^lev^e au dessus du sol de la cour d'environ
30 centimetres et elle est entour^e, ext6rieurment, d'une galerie couverte qui la rend plus agr^able.
"^^tivaaail 'ttltb
♦.*/>--^: _.
FIG. 95. HOUSE OF KAMEHAMEHA V AT KAUNAKAKAI.
Sa forme ^ Tint^rieur, est celle d*une rectangle allong^ ; dans Tun des bouts, il y a un appartement
form^ par une cloison en planches qui ne s'^lfeve pas jusqu'au toit. Cette pifece sert de chambre ^
coucher ; dans le reste de Taire de la case, et ^ I'autre ex4;r6mit6, il y a une portion du sol 61ev6e
de 28 ^ 30 centimetres, qui est recouverte de plusieurs nattes : c*est sur cette espfece de grand divan
que se placent les dames; elles s'y tiennent conchies sur un c6t6 ou sur le ventre: c'est ainsi
qu'elles re5oivent et se tiennent pour causer et faire salon.59
Present at this conference were the King, Kauikeaouli, his sister Nahienaena,
and wife, Kalama, Kuakini (who is asleep in the chair?), Hoapili, Boki and his wife
Liliha, Kinau and other chiefs. M. du Petit-Thouars assures us in a note (p. 336) that
the figures are fair likenesses.
One of the royal grass houses of the Kamehamehas is still preserved at Waikiki,
a suburb of Honolulu. The foreign influence is shown in the surrounding verandah
and railing. The walls next the verandah are of grass as is the roof : unfortunately
"Voyage autour du Monde, sur la Frigate La Venus pendant les anndes 1836-1839 par Abel du Petit-Thouars.
Paris, 1840. I, 384. [295]
112
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
in the illustration, Fig. 94, the shadow of the roof conceals the nature of the walls
while showing the refledlion of light from the smooth stems of the grass.
The next step is seen in the house built for Kamehameha V at Kaunakakai, on
the south shore of Molokai. When the photograph was taken in 1888 the house was
in ruin and quite uninhabitable ; were it not for the bars across the lanai openings,
cattle might have entered this deserted fishing lodge of the king who, like all his
family, was so fond of fishing that he often deserted his court in Honolulu and was
paddled to this place where he remained for weeks at a time, out of the reach of the
FIG. 96. HOUSE AT KAIMU, HAWAII, IN 1888.
foreigners whom he liked none too well. The enclosed corner of the lanai or verandah
was very foreign, however, and so were the partitions found within the house.
The third picture. Fig. 96, shows a native house converted into a full foreign model:
doors, windows, separate rooms, and cellar, a model often used on ranches and in country
houses or on the outskirts of Honolulu, most comfortable and suited to the climate.
The only other way in which the Hawaiian dwelling has influenced the foreign
house is perhaps in the large lanai found in many houses and used both as a dining
room and a general reception room. This lanai is generally open on one or two sides,
and in the pleasant climate of these islands is the most agreeable room in the house;
it is all the time a stiff model of the old Hawaiian lanai of palm-leaf or grass roof and
perhaps a slight wall of similar material on the windward side.
[296]
Old Volcano House.
"3
It has been mentioned that the lama wood was especially that used for building
houses for the gods, that is, the thatched houses within the enclosure of the heiau or
/^^^/'»/ (temple), and its use in building the house for King Lot, Kamehameha V
(Fig. 94), gave an excuse for its reported use by an old kahuna (priest) in the king's
establishment, for a house of prayer, and I am assured by an old resident that prayers
to the gods were frequently offered therein.
Another example of the old Hawaiian building modified by foreign needs is seen
in the old Volcano House on the brink of the crater of Kilauea. When this was built
FIG. 97. OLD VOLCANO HOUSE: PAINTED BY HOWARD HITCHCOCK.
for the accomodation of visitors to this which is perhaps the most attractive volcano on
earth, access was difficult; the long trail, nearly thirty miles from Hilo, was bad and
consumed a long day in the horseback ride. To get foreign material for even a small
hotel to this place was very difficult, and recourse was had to the native methods of
building to a considerable extent. When the present comfortable hotel was built, after
a cart road had been opened from Punaluu, the old house was incorporated with it.
In process of modernization the lanai was widened and indeed rebuilt, and the old posts
were found to be of hewn naio (bastard sandalwood). It was originally built largely
by natives who had their hale pili scattered here and there through the region, and
made a living by picking//////, an obsolete article of commerce.
Memoirs B. P. B. Museum. Vol. II, No. 3.-8, L^97 J
114 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Hawaiian Fireplace. — I have left to the last the fireplace which was found
in most of the ancient houses. In the colder regions where hunting birds or making
adzes compelled some of the natives to dwell for a season, fire was a necessity in the
sleeping place, and in the mountain region I have experienced the comfort of the
fireplace filled with glowing embers, and although the house had no chimney nor other
opening than the ordinary door, there was, to my surprise no tiouble from smoke, as
the door was left open during the night. In the centre, usually, of the house, and so
opposite the door was a shallow excavation walled in with flat stones set edgewise, or
sometimes where such stones were not at hand, with larger and wider stones firmly
planted as a rectangular wall perhaps eighteen by twenty-four inches. This fireplace
was not intended for cooking, which was done out of doors and in an imu or buried
oven (which belongs properly to the chapter on Food and Cookery).
The fire was kindled carefully and during the night was often replenished by
any one who happened to be awake, and in a large company there was sure to be some
one awake at any time of night. If a proper selection of wood was made there was
little smoke. Often one sees in the stone kahua or platform that marks the site of a
vanished house the neatly built fireplace, the last fire quenched so long ago that it
differs little in color from the other stone of the ruin.
I do not think the Hawaiian, like his Maori brother, ever cut the fireplace from
a single block of stone (see Fig. 32); perhaps there was no stone so well suited for the
purpose as is found in New Zealand ; nor did he shut himself in with his fire until
the heat was almost overpowering ; but then his climate never was so chilly as that of
southern New Zealand. When the old writers commiserate the ancient Hawaiians for
having houses with no outlet for the smoke and vapors of their fire except the low
door, it is probable that they never spent a night in such a house with a fire. In mod-
ern times, since the introduAion of tobacco, the grass house certainly becomes stifling
to a nonsmoker even near the open door, for the wild tobacco emits a stench that no
island wood could equal. We must now look at the kindling of the fire, although
that perhaps should come after the house is fully furnished and occupied, and so be
relegated to the third part of this chapter. I will, however, confess to having caught
somewhat of the disorderly method of the Hawaiian raconteur, and must plead that if
every description is not in logical sequence.
Piremaking. — The Hawaiian, like other Polynesians, made fire by ploughing,
not by drilling, although they had the pump drill in very early times. If the first im-
migrants to the Pacific islands came from Asia they passed through a region where fire
drilling was generally practised from Australia to Japan, and as in the case of the loom
[298]
Polynesian Fire Making.
"5
they "passed by on the other side." If they came from the American continent that also
was a land where before the coming of the white man the fire drill was universally used.
With the curious disdain the Hawaiian seems to feel for the works, processes
or results of his forebears in heathen times, one cannot be surprised at the utter forget-
fulness that has fallen on the modern representatives of this great Polynesian family
so annoying when the archaeologist tries to resuscitate old customs. Almost as soon
FIG. 98. MAORI FIRE MAKING.
as a matchbox could be obtained the ancient implements of firemaking which had
well served countless generations were consigned to the limbo of useless things, and
their very names soon erased from memory. Names that were obtained more than
half a century ago and embalmed in print are the only relics of many a useful and to
us interesting process in the daily life of the primitive settlers in the Pacific. I have
seen old Hawaiians who worked for Kamehameha the Great make fire at my request,
but as the present generation is ignorant of these matters and not eager to be photo-
graphed doing such "old fashioned things" I turn to their kin in New Zealand for an
illustration (Fig. 98) of the old Hawaiian method of making fire: it was done on
[299]
ii6
The Ancient Hawaiian House,
Hawaii precisely as the Maori and his wife are represented doing at the present day
in the native villages of New Zealand."
The tools used by the old Hawaiians were a stick of dry, soft wood {hau was
commonly used), of such size as to be conveniently held between the feet or by another
person ; and a much smaller stick of hard wood held in the hand and moved rapidly
and with force to and fro in a groove on the soft stick called aunaki (in Maori kauaki)^
and the harder wood plow
aulima (in Maori kaurima-
rima)!'"' With a few rubs the
friction is sufficient to char
the wood and in about a min-
ute the dust that collects in
the bottom of the groove ig-
nites and the flame is dexter-
ously caught on a bit of
tinder or a welu ahi (No. 4247,
Fig. 99), composed of twisted
or braided kapa: this also
serves for slow match. The
ohe puhi ahi (No. 166, Fig.
99), a joint of slender bambu,
served to blow the fire when
kindling.^' With volcanic fire
perpetually burning on the
largest island of the group,
and traditionally the one
*9This pair of Urimera Maori was
a most interesting antique and fully im-
bued with the ancient ways and spirit
of the old New Zealander. When they
visited the white man's town for the first
time they showed almost the stoicism
of the Amerind at the sight of great novelties, and their comments were often quaint and amusing. The woman
thought the white folks must be fools to build one house on top of another when land was abundant !
**There is more than a passing interest in the comparison of the words used to designate these fire-sticks in
Hawaiian and other Polynesian dialects. Aulima^ au a handle (also the motion of the hand in mixing poi), lima
the hand (also the numeral five from the number of fingers); in Maori kaurimarima (1 and r often interchangeable
in Polynesian words); Tahitian aurima; Mangarevan kourima. The lower piece is named in Maori kauahi or kau-
notiy in Tahitian a«a/, Mangarevan ^a«/ia/t. As to the Maori kaurimarima y Mr. Edward Tregear remarks in his
Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary sub voce^ '*This is probably the only Maori word in which rima is used
for 'hand', although rima [or lima^ is 'hand' or 'five' almost everywhere else in Polynesia." The motion of rubbing
is hia in Hawaiian.
"It is not necessary to go farther into the process of firemaking by two sticks, as this has been already well
done by Dr. Walter Hough in the report of the U. S. National Museum for 1888 ; but in that paper Mr. R. Brough
Smythe is quoted as attributing the use of the fire-plow to all Australians ; the drill was more widely used on the
Australian continent.
[300]
FIG. 99. HAWAIIAN FIRE MAKING TOOLS : IN BISHOP MUSEUM.
Origin of Fire. 117
where the immigrants first landed, and with eruptions every few years that nightly
brightened Hawaii and the nearer islands for weeks and even months, it is strange
that the legends of the origin of fire trace it, not to the redoubtable Pele, goddess of
the volcano, but to the humble water-hen {alae of the natives) who alone knew how
to make fire and long refused to impart the secret to human beings. At last one day
the inevitable happened and a man came upon one of these birds who had been warm-
ing itself by its manufaAured fire. As usual, the bird refused to tell whence came
the comfortable blaze, so the human featherless biped seized the plumed one and press-
ing a still glowing brand from the fire against the forehead of the bird held it there
until in its agony the poor wretch gave up its secret in fragmentary shrieks, and as an
irrefragable proof of the truth of the legend the forehead of the bird is still red.
The flint and steel of our ancestors were not more eflficient than the simple
fire-sticks. No flint was found on the Hawaiian group, nor metallic iron, but the com-
pact clinkstone and the hard iron oxide or haematite are claimed to have been used by
the natives ; never so popular as the aulima and aunaki. The application of fire to
light rather than to heat will be discussed later with the torches, candles and lamps;
but the clear burning embers in the fireplace gave a dim but sufl5cient light that did
not hinder sleep, but showed the indistinct figures moving from their lair to the door
or returning without disturbance to their rest ; and when the fire-tender put new fuel
on the embers the temporary flash disclosed a scene to be remembered.
That I might be sure of the names given to the house parts in olden times I
printed a list, which I give below, of words and their definitions as given by Andrews^* in
his dictionary, to be submitted in whole or in part to various old Hawaiians met in the
circuit of Hawaii ; but the results were not encouraging and but little new was added
to the list. Such as it is I offer it here as a convenience to any reader who needs
such a vocabulary.
VOCABULARY OF TERMS USED IN HOUSEBUILDING.
Aaa. A humble dwelling; also an uninhabited house (an ^%% shell).
Aaho. Same as aho.
Aha. To stretch the cord by which the first posts of a house were located.
Aho. Small, straight sticks used in thatching. Aaho seems a corruption.
Aina (hale). A house for eating; he hale aina oia kekahi.
Ako. To thatch ; ua akoia ka hale.
Aualo (halau). A shed for storing canoes or other bulky articles; front of house.
* A Dictionary of the Hawaiian Language, by Lorrin Andrews. Honolulu, 1865.
[301]
ii8 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Auau. Name of a certain aho to be thatched first in building a heiau.
Auolo =: aualo. A shanty.
Auha, A shed to screen canoes from the sun.
Auwae. (Chin.) The projeAion near the top of a post to hold the lashings.
Auwaha. The fork at the lower end of a rafter.
Hakala. The gable end of a house ; the side of a house.
Halau. Long canoe house ; eating house for men.
Hale. A house. The six houses considered proper for an ancient householder were:
1. Heiau^ a chapel where personal idols were kept, and private worship held;
this did not require the services of a priest.
2. Mua^ the eating house for the men, kapu to women.
3. Noa^ where the wife lived, not kapu to the husband.
4. Hale aina^ the eating house of the wife.
5. Kua^ also kuku^ where kapa was beaten in bad weather; usually outside.
6. Pea^ where the wife lived during the period of uncleanness.
Hale alii. A palace.
Hale hau. A house for the gods, made of hau {JParitium tiliaceum).
Hale halawai. A meeting house, or council chamber.
Hale kamala. A temporary struAure.
Hale koko. House where the hoalii slept.
Hale kupapau. A sepulchre, house of the dead.
Hale lalalaau. A struAure of the branches of trees, a camp.
Hale malu. A cool or shady porch.
Hale moe. A bed chamber or house for sleeping.
Hale papaa. A storehouse.
Hale poki. A house where the bones of a king were supposed to be deposited.
Many other names of houses were used to express foreign ideas, especially in the
translation of the scriptures.
Halii. To spread a net over a newly thatched house to keep the grass smooth while
drying (Fig. 85); to put down mats after house cleaning.
Hana. Middle post of the end of a house ; pou hana.
Hio. The comers of a grass house.
Hoaho. To twist strings for a house; to tie aho to a house frame; also hooaho.
Hoaka. A lintel.
Hoopoheoheo. To make a neck on the top of a rafter (Fig. 77).
Hui. The smaller sticks between posts and rafters, and parallel with them.
Kahua. A foundation or platform on which a house is built.
[302]
Vocabulary. 119
Kala. The ends of a house as distinguished from the front and back.
Kaola. A beam across rafters ; a bar for a door.
Kauhale. A colleAion of houses ; a village.
Kauhilo. To bind together the sticks of a house with a rope during construAion.
Kauhuhu. The ridgepole.
Kaula. The plate or beam uniting the tops of posts ; a rope.
Kaupaku. The upper ridgepole.
Kihi. Outside corner of a house.
Kipaepae. Stone steps ; often of hammered stone ; usually of the stone built into
the kahua or platform.
Kamo hale. To dedicate a house.
Kuahui. A scaffold used during building.
Kuene. To measure out the foundation and posts of a house; to set up and tie
together the frame ; to take down a house and put it up elsewhere.
Kuenehale. A man skilled in house building.
Kukuna. End posts of a house ; side posts of a door.
Kulana. Sides of a house.
Kuono. Inside comers of a house.
I^aauku. An upright post.
I^ala. The four corners of a house ; thatch over the door after it has been cut.
I^anai. An open shed ; a piazza.
I^apauila. Side posts for a door.
I/io. The tie beam of a house ; a carpenter's horse.
I/Oha. Trimmings on ridges and comers of a thatched house.
I/Ohelau. Plate to which rafters are fastened.
I/Ole. To thatch a house smoothly.
I/Olelau. The art of thatching a house.
Oa. Rafter of a house (Figs. 77-80).
Olokea. Scaffold used in building a house.
Pahale. The space around a house enclosed by a fence.
Paia. Sides or walls of a house.
Paihale. To thatch houses.
Paku. A partition ; the wall of a small enclosure.
Palaau. A fence of sticks.
PalepO. An adobe wall ; literally mud hardened.
Pani. To close ; hence, a door or shutter.
Panipuka. A door.
[303]
I20
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Papaa. A storing; hale papaa, a storehouse.
Papahehe. A floor ; not necessarily more than a smooth surface.
Papal. A screen ; a slight house or shed.
Papal. To thatch, because in the process the Hawaiian, in drawing the cord tight
around a bundle of grass, strikes it with the left hand.
Pill. Grass preferred for thatching; Heteropogon contortus.
Pou. Side posts of a house (Figs. 73-75).
POU O manu. Post under which was the human sacrifice.
Pueo. Cords tied around posts of a house during building.
Puka. A doorway ; also puka hale.
Puka makanl. A ventilator or wind sail.
Puoa. A house built with the side poles united at top; a steeple.
Pupupu. A small or temporary house.
Wa. The space between two posts or rafters.
Waha. Fork in lower end of a rafter (Fig. 78). Same as auwaha.
Weklu. The top of a house.
— POU KIHI.
y — KUKUNA.
< — POU HANA.
< — KUKUNA.
— POU KIHI.
PUKA.
[304I
House Belongings: The Furniture of a House.
Here is the Hawaiian house, plain, no ornament, seldom a garden around it,
none, — not even a trace, — of the elaborate carving of the Maori, nor the fantastic
roof-work of the New Guinea or Solomon Islanders, a shelter surely but not yet a
home, and that long distance between house and home so well known to the Anglo-
Saxon is wonderfully shortened here in the tropics. Yet the Hawaiian recognizes the
difference : the empty house, however convenient, however well built, has something
dismal, even uncanny, and the belief of the untutored Carib, derided by the thought-
less, is natural and reasonable. He thinks that an unfinished house, — unfinished
until it is inhabited by articles of domestic use, if not by human beings, is the chosen
retreat of the devil, and the builders when they leave their work each night, place a
simple wooden cross at the door and window openings. The devil is easier to keep
out than to get out !
Centuries ago among the hills of Palestine, we get a glimpse of the same belief.
"Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come,
he findeth it empty ^ swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself
seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there."
Something of the same feeling prevails among the Polynesians, and the con-
secration ceremonies held before a new house is occupied always, I think, include a
prayer that the evil spirits that may have entered the empty house, may be forever
banished by the happy human life about to dwell in it.
We have seen the Hawaiian cut the last tuft of grass on the thatch, over the
door-lintel and that bit of grass was symbolic not merely of the last touch of the
builder, but a warning to any evil-disposed akua to keep out. When that tuft was
cut and the kahuna had asked the blessing of the gods, the great gods and the lesser
gods and the whole forty thousand gods, the owner and his family entered in with their
belongings: a good and happy family is the best talisman, I know of, to keep evil
spirits (or thoughts) at a distance.
We consulted David Malo in the building of the house and we may do the same
in the furnishing, but the picture he gives us is not wholly a pleasant one, and we
may suspect that he, perhaps unconsciously, contrasts the former state of his country-
[305]
122
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
men with that newer civilization then knocking at the door. We know that in the
houses of the alii there were, even in remote days, many things he takes no notice of in
his brief story, and after his account we may turn to other sources of information.
EXTRACTS FROM CHAPTER XXXIII OF MALO'S ANTIQUITIES.
20. Oo ka ipu kekahi mea e pono ai maloko
olaila e hahao ai ka ai, ka ia o ko Hawaii nei
mau ipu kahiko mai elua ipu he ipu laau, he
ipu pohue.
21. O ka poe akamai i ke kalai ipu kalai
no lakou i ipu ma kekahi laau, aka, o ke kou
ka laau kalai nuiia i ipu, e kalaiia na pauku
laau mawaho, a hooliloia i umeke kekahi, a i
ipukai, a e pao maloko a hohonu a e hana pala-
nai kekahi i ka laau maluna o ka ipukai, a pau
ia hana ana.
22. Alaila, e anai i ka puna maloko a ma-
waho, a pau ia, alalia anai hou i ke oahi, a pau
ia anai i ka ana, a pau ia, anai i ka oio, a pau
ia, anai i ka nanahu, a pau ia, o ka lauohe, a
pau ia, lohi aku ka lauhuhu me ke kapa, o ka
ipu iho la noia, e hana i poi a i koko, ma ka
umeke ka ai, ma ka ipukai ka ia.
23. O ke pohue, he ipu ia i kanuia a hua
mai, nana no i hua mai ma ke ano umeke, a me
ke ano ipukai, a me ke ano huewai, he awaawa
maloko oia ipu, he awaawa ole kekahi ipu, e
wau ka pala maloko a pau, a kaulai maloo, anai
a pau o loko o ka ipu, iho la noia, e hana i poi,
i koko mawaho o ka ipu.
24. E hoopala ka hue, a hahao i iliili ma-
loko, a lulu a pau ka pala, a ku i ka wai a
manalo, oia ka huewai.
25 . O ka paakai kekahi mea e pono ai he mea
e ono ai ka ia a me ke koekoe o ka paina ana,
he mea hanaia ke paakai ma kekahi aina, aole
i hanaia ma kekahi aina o ke kai ma kai e kii
aku no ka wahine, a lawe mai ma ke poi, a he
kai hooholo ia mai kekahi ma kauwahi mai.
26. B waiho kela kai ma kekahi poho paha,
he ekaha paha, he kaheka paha, alia malaila
lawe ho ma kauwahi e, o ka paakai iho la noia,
o ka papalaau ka mea kui poi.
27. O ka wai kekahi mea e pono ai he mea
kii wale aku ka wai ma kahawai, he mea eliia
[306]
20. , The calabash was a good thing in which
to put food and fish in the old Hawaiian house,
and these were of two kinds, the wooden and
those formed from a gourd.
2 1 . Those who were skilled in carving bowls
carved them from this and that wood, but kou
was most commonly used ; it was cut in blocks
and first shaped outside, an umeke this, an ipu-
kai that ; it was dug out deep within for the
former, shallow for the latter ; a cover was made
for the ipukai and the work was done.
22. Then with coral was the inside and the
outside rubbed smooth ; this done the rubbing
was repeated with polishing stone and pumice;
then was used charcoal and bambu leaf, and
finally banana leaf and kapa. After this the
bowl is provided with a koko. The umeke is
for poi, the ipukai for meat.
23. The ipu was the fruit of a vine that was
cultivated, and the fruit was worked in the
shape of an umeke, an ipukai or a huewai.
Bitter within were such gourds, others were not
bitter. The soft inside was scraped out and the
shell dried ; when dry it was rubbed inside, a
cover made and a koko.
24. The water-gourd was rotted, then small
stones were put in and shaken until the soft mass
was removed, then water was left in it until it
was tasteless, and the huewai was done.
25 . Salt was an article proper for the house;
it was used for preserving fish, in cooking food,
and at meals. Salt was made not here and there
but in certain places where the women brought
sea-water in the covers of calabashes or led it in
ditches to shallow ponds.
26. Such water was left in holes perhaps,
in shallow ponds perhaps, until it became strong
brine, then it was taken to crystallizing pans
where it became salt and was pounded on a
board like poi.
27. Water was a necessary thing that was
brought from springs or streams, or dug for in
Malays Account of the Furniture.
123
kekahi wai. O ka wai kekahi mea e pono ai
ka paina ana, no na puna, a me ka wela o ka
paina ana.
28. O ka ai, o ka ia, o ka paakai, a me ka
wai, o keia mau mea ka mea e pono ai ko loko
o ke kanaka.
29. O ka niho mano ko Hawaii nei mea e
ako ai e ka lauoho. Ua kapaia he niho ako
lauoho. £ hoa ka niho mano ma ka laau a paa,
a pepelu mai a ka lauoho maluna o ka niho ma-
no, a malalo o ka niho mano, alaila, o aku imua
me heunuunu la ke ano, a i eha loa e puhipuhi
i ke ahi, oia ka lua o ka mea ako lauoho.
30. O ka Hawaii nei aniani kahiko, he pa-
palaau, e anai a maikai, alaila, paele i ka hili, a
paele hou i ka lepo, a eleele a hou i ka wai,
alaila, nana aku, he wahi ike pohihi no, he
pohaku kekahi aniani, e anai a hou i ka wai,
alaila, nana aku.
31. O ka launiu ko Hawaii nei peahi ka-
hiko, e ulana a palahalaha o ka loulu kekahi
peahi, he peahi maikai ia, e hanaia ke kumu i
ka aha. O keia mau mea no na mea i pono ai
ko ka poe kahiko noho ana ma Hawaii nei.
(Aloha ina lakou!)
the ground. This water was a good thing at
meals to prevent choking and to cool hot food.
28. Vegetables and meat, salt, and fresh
water, all these things are necessary for the
inner man.
29. A shark's tooth was used in Hawaii for
hair-cutting. It was called «/A^-flir(?-/a«(?A(7. The
shark's tooth was fastened to a wooden handle;
the hair was doubled over the shark's tooth,
then this was pushed quickly forward while the
person shrank back with the pain ; some burned
it off with fire ; such was the second way of
hair-cutting.
30. The ancient looking-glass of Hawaii
nei was of wood well polished, then dyed black
with bark, again dyed with mud and blackened
with water, then gazing at it a faint image ap-
pears. Stone carefully polished was dipped in
water and then reflected the image.
31. The coconut leaf was the ancient fan of
Hawaii ; it was braided flat ; the loulu was also
used ; a good fan was that, and the handle was
wound with coconut cord. Such were the pos-
sessions of the old-time people who dwelt in
Hawaii nei. Great pity for them !
With the native account as a text we may wander away to a consideration of
what these "belongings" really were, and we may either take the most primitive to
begin with and in our imagination build up little by little the necessary utensils of a
poor man's home, or we can collect all the things we know the Hawaiian used, stock
his house generously, and leave each reader to subtract what seems luxury from the
bare necessities of life with a primitive man, or for the matter of that with a modern
poor man. I have chosen the latter procedure, and although I shall try to describe
all that a well-to-do man, a chief, one of the alii had in his home before the second advent
of the white man at the time of Captain Cook's visit, I will also indicate in some measure
what I believe the order of acquisition. Let us limit ourselves to the belongings of
household life, reserving the worship, the food and amusements for other chapters.
One thing will be very apparent, there was very little for exhibition or orna-
ment; everywhere utility reigned. There was no endeavor to harmonize the carpets
with the wall coverings, or the furniture with both. And yet that very thing was done
unconsciously, for the mats that covered the stone, earthen or gravel floor matched
perfectly with the grass or hala leaf lining of the walls, and the dark gray of the stone
[307]
124
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
implements and the orange of the gourd containers with the deeper colors of the umeke
struck no discordant note. It is useless to say that if it had no eye would have been
offended in the dimly lighted interior; almost all the furniture was used out of doors
and only stored within ; but whether placed by the brookside under the trees, in the
lanai, or piled up on the gray stone platform around, or at least in front of the house,
there was not a shining tin pan or kettle, nor a vilely decorated bit of crockery (as so
pi
r ''-wm
3Vn£
w^ki
•
* If' ^-.,
FIG. lOO. POI MAKING OUT OF DOORS. A SCENE AT HALAWA, MOLOKAI, IN 1888.
often in modem degenerate times) to offend good taste ; everything harmonized as
commonly with the uncorrupted children of the simple life.
The universal out-of-door life in the fine climate of Hawaii kept the house clean
and permitted the use of a floor covering of mats of fine texture ; much better these
than the rushes strewn upon the floors of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. These mats have
already been described in the publications of this Museum,^^ and it need onl}^ be repeated
here that in the better houses the actual floor was covered with several layers of mats,
sometimes all of pandanus leaf but in fineness increasing from the bottom layer, at
other times the lower ones were of pandanus and the upper one of makaloa^ a fine rush of
w^hich the best and most durable Hawaiian mats were made. On the general coarser mat
covering of the floor was often placed the bed or hikiee^ a structure of mats interleaved
*^ Hawaiian Mat and Basket Weaving. Memoirs ii, pt. i, 1906.
[308]
Hawaiian Beds,
"5
with extra strips of matting at the front edge, and often extending the length of the
one room of the sleeping house. Sometimes this hikiee was placed on a slightly raised
platform or kahua like an oriental divan, but I believe this a comparatively modern
innovation. I have never seen such a kahua in the ruins of the old houses that are
dotted over the group. All the family and guests slept together on this long bed
which often was more capacious than the famous bed of Ware, and not infrequently
the pet pig of the family joined the company of sleepers.
FIG. lOI. ULUNA OR PILLOWS.
Uluna or Pillows they had, as shown in Fig. loi, woven of smooth pandanus
leaves, and stuffed with other leaves, most comfortable even for an European. As the
illustration shows these pillows were sometimes of ornamental weaving, but they com-
monly were plain and of various sizes to suit the owner or user. In the earlier houses
the expedient sometimes seen in poorer houses of later times of a log or bolster, ex-
tending the length of the hikiee was no doubt common. They had also a wooden
pillow, as Malo says, but I do not know of an example extant, nor have I ever seen
one in use in a native house. A stone pillow was found some time ago at Kilauea,
Kauai, a locality noted for its good stone work, and this may have resembled the
wooden one. The stone one is shown in Fig. 102. It is cool and not so uncomfortable
as might be inferred from its materiaP'* The body is flat on the outside and convex
**This uluna pohaku was kindly loaned me for examination and to photograph by the owner, Mr. J. R. Myers,
of Kilauea Plantation. F'^OqI
126
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
on the body side ; the legs are slightly notched to prevent slipping on the smooth sur-
face of a mat bed. I know of no other specimen of the stone pillow ; only the frail mat
pillows have survived to the present time.
Kapa Moe. — They also had bed clothes {kapa moe) of the paper made by felting
the fibres of the paper mulberry into large sheets, five of which usually formed a kuina
and were stitched together with a tape of kapa at one edge leaving the others free.
The sheets were of an average size of six by eight feet, but there is one in this Museum
ten and a half feet by twelve, and others nearly as large. Four of the kuina or set of
FIG. I02. STONE PII,I,OW FROM KILAUEA, KAUAI.
sheets were generally white or yellow, while the outside sheet {kilohana^ was colored
or decorated with imprinted figures or lines. Such a kuina was quite warm, and I
have found them unbearable over my ordinary clothes when sleeping on the summit
of Mauna Loa (13,675 ft.) when water was freezing at my feet. The Hawaiians of the
olden time were clothed only in the malo^ a strip of kapa or matting perhaps nine
inches wide and two yards long; this with the women became a pa^u which was about
a yard wide and of considerable length ; neither sex wore night clothes. Both sexes,
however, used in cold weather a shawl of kapa called kihei. Some authors have
stated that the Hawaiians wrapped themselves in the kapa moe in sleeping, and I have
seen them go to the door of their house on a chilly night in the mountain region
wrapped in it as a white man might use a blanket, but while it is quite probable that
they had individual peculiarities in the matter, those I have consulted have generally
slept with the kapa moe over them in the usual manner of bed coverings. Precisely
in this way those who slept the last sleep were covered by a sheet of black kapa, and
one recalls the message sent by the last king of Kauai to the conquering Kamehameha,
[310I
Kapa Beating.
127
"Wait until the black kapa covers me and my kingdom shall be yours." I cannot here
follow up the manufacture of kapa, which will require a chapter by itself,^^ but the
chief implements used in this most important work were a part of the furniture of
every important house, and must be briefly described and illustrated here.
No loom nor complicated machinery was needed for the simple process by which
the fibres of bark were converted into sheets of varying size and consistency. A log
of some hard wood, usually of
kawau or kolea wood, was cut to
a length of about six feet, hewn
to a flat surface about three
inches wide at top, cut away
slightly at either end and
hollowed out longitudinally
underneath. This anvil, laau
kui kapa or kua kapa^ was sup-
ported on two stones. Fig. 104.
A variety of hand clubs, some
round {hohoa) for the first beat-
ing, or square {te kuku^ Fig. 103)
for the finishing, and a few cala-
bashes to hold water or some
mucilaginous liquid, were all the
tools needed to make what
was probably called from the
means used in its fabrication
Kapa = ka pa^ the beaten.
In olden time the kapa
beating was done in one of
the six houses (hale kua) of
a well-to-do Hawaiian, but in later times I have usually seen the old women establish
their kua kuku under some tree near a brook or kalo patch. The patterns on the
beaters were various and these determined the "water mark" on the kapa : the form of
the beater and some of the patterns are shown in Fig. 103. These beaters are perhaps
the most common Hawaiian article in museums, and they must have been very abund-
ant, as after their original use had become obsolete, scores were used up in trying to
**! more wiUingljr pass over the very important work of kapa making without a complete description because
a rather lengthy memoir devoted to that manufacture, in which the Hawaiians excelled, is in preparation and will
be fully illustrated with photographs and colored plates.
[311]
FIG. 103. KAPA BEATERS.
128
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
reduce to fibre the foreigner's clothing in their primitive process of washing by beat-
ing the wet fabrics on a flat stone.
As there were no mosquitoes on the Hawaiian Islands before 1827, the old natives
had no need of mosquito nettings so indispensible in the southern islands of the Pacific,
and the taiftamu of the Samoan was not known on Hawaii in the "good old times".
Sleep was often broken to go to the poi umeke^^ and satisfy their frequent hunger.
In the day time the kapa moe were carefully folded and put aside as were the mat beds
of the Samoans. The author can bear witness to the great comfort and restfulness of
this old Hawaiian mat bed and pillow in a new and clean house, and it is no wonder
that modern Hawaiians who
have frame houses after the
foreign style and bedsteads
and other foreign furniture,
still prefer to sleep on their
mat bed under the cumber-
some foreign bedstead. Once
the author, in passing the
night in such a house in a
fine four-poster with mosquito
nettings, was awakened at day-
break by a slight noise and
saw his host and hostess crawling carefully out from beneath the bedstead, where
they had comfortably passed the night.
When foreign customs began to be observed, partitions were made temporarily in
the one room of a native house by sheets of kapa hung on cords. When traveling here in
the early sixties with ladies this convenience was generally offered by our obliging hosts;
often this was the sole exception to the antique modus vivendi^ and yet it made the little
one-roomed house seem very foreign to have this fence rather than partition stretched
from wall to wall. It destroyed the extreme sociability of the old Hawaiian way.
Before we turn from the subject of bed and its use, we may describe a custom
rather than the apparatus, that to old residents seems almost a part of the native
house; and yet today the articles I am about to describe (Fig. 105) are hard to find,
and not many have been preserved in museums. If Morpheus or his Hawaiian equiva-
lent refused to be propitious, and sleep was coy, the old natives had a soporific always
sure and never harmful.
FIG. 104. LAAU KUI KAPA.
^Poi umeke = the bread basket. Poi was the paste made from the cooked root of the kalo, and was the staff
of life to the Hawaiian. Its manufacture and modifications wiU be described in the chapter on the food and cookery
of the Hawaiians. I "Z 1 2 1
The Practice of Lomilomi.
129
I/oau I/omilomi Kua. Back Rubbers. — Obesity being a much coveted
condition among certain chiefs of either sex, although perhaps more among the females,
eating in excess of the requirements of a natural appetite was resorted to and in con-
sequence some passive exercise was needful to digestion, and the delightful process of
lomilomi or massage was applied to the fat masses of poi, fish and dog. But not merely
by gluttons, but by the muscle-weary was this process indulged in. Constipation,
headache and many other ills yielded to the skilful manipulation of the old women
who were reputed the best operators.
FIG. 105. LAAU LOMILOMI AND BATH RUBBERS.
I am not copying what is usually said of a Hawaiian lomilomi ; I know of it
intimately by repeated personal trials. Once I had been in the saddle all day on a
slow horse traveling the then execrable trail from Hilo to the volcano of Kilauea in a
rainy season. Arrived late at night at the grass house that then served to shelter
visitors at the brink of the crater, I dismounted so stiff and weary that I could not
sleep, I could hardly sit down. Fortunately there were then many natives living in
that desolate neighborhood employed in the long since abandoned work of pulu gather-
ing (pulu being the silky down at the base of the frond of the tree fern of the neigh-
boring forest, the product being then in demand for stuffing pillows and beds), and
among them were found two old women noted for their skill. I removed all unneces-
sary clothing, dropped on the mat, and the lomilomi began. At first they gently
kneaded the muscle from the extremity to the trunk, then tapping in succession with
finger tips, knuckles and closed fists, and ending with a minuet danced on my abdo-
Mbmoirs B. p. B. Museum, Vol. II. No. 3.-9. L3 ^ 3 J
I30
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
men, and a march on their heels up and down my spine. I think they, in the course
of this, ran their heels down every rib as if it were the key of a piano. They also
"cracked" each finger joint and even my neck ; at first it was ticklish ; then dreamy;
then restful, and after an hour of this I got up so refreshed that I could have ridden
all night. Instead I at once fell asleep.
Foreigners have learned the process to some extent, but the old native poe
lomilomi are extinct.*^ On the whole I consider the old Hawaiian lomilomi far pleas-
anter than the massage that one gets from the most approved operators in the best
baths in Cairo. At times one might wish to exercise his back, and without assistance
at hand, the laau lomilomi shown in Fig. 105 were most useful, and were found in every
house in the olden time. In a grass house where there are no door posts, they were
certainly a great addition to the comfort of the human inhabitant. In the Bishop
Museum these sticks are placed in the medical alcove, where they belong, but they
always seem a necessary part of the furnishing of a hale pili. The round stone rubbers
shown in the same illustration, were of cellular lava, and in the ablutions took the
place of the then unknown soap. It was sometimes well to use them after a lomilomi.
The specimens of laau lomilomi kua in this Museum are as follows :
1 163 Of kou wood, large.
1 164
1 165
1 166 Of kauila wood; from Kali hi,
Oahu.
1 167 From Honaunau, Hawaii.
1 168 Of nenelaau wood, Kailua, Hawaii.
1 169 Kona, Hawaii.
1 1 70 Kona, Hawaii.
1 171 Kona, Hawaii.
1 172 Kona, Hawaii.
1 173 Kona, Hawaii.
1 1 74 Of ulei wood; N. Kona, Hawaii.
1 175 Of nenelaau wood; Kailua, Hawaii.
1176
1177
If my native house had at this time human inhabitants, my reader might justly
say that I had put them to bed not only without their supper, but without a light !
While the chapter on Food might be appealed to for the supper, it would be unfair to
leave out the light for while the old Hawaiians often went to bed with the chickens,
they did not like the dark more than other Polynesians, indeed than children of any
race. In the cooler parts of the country the fireplace was fed with slow-burning fuel
for a dim glow, for which the mamane {Sophora chrysophylla)^ a tree common on the
uplands, was most fit. Torches (^lamaktt) were made by stringing the meats of roasted
kukuinuts i^Aleurites moluaand) on the midrib of a coconut leaflet and binding a
*^On camping excursions I have often applied this massage to the relief of my companions, and Judge Sanford
B. Dole, president of the trustees of this Museum, is very skilful in this Hawaiian art.
[314]
Light in the Darkness.
131
number of these strings with dry banana leaves into a cylinder some six inches in
diameter, and from two to four feet long. This lamaku produced a bright light, con-
venient for a night-time dance or revel, but it gave out too much smoke to be tolerated
in the ill-ventilated houses, although the glow was pleasant through the open door.
The usual evening light for the interior was the stone lamp fed with kukui oil and
supplied with one or more wicks of twisted strip of kapa, or with the older and simpler
candle of these same nuts first roasted and shelled and then strung as in the torch but
in shorter lengths. Such candles it was the duty of the younger members of the
family to care for, and they were "snuffed" by inverting the candle until the next nut
FIG. 106. KUKUINUT CANDLES.
was alight and then knocking off the embers of the spent nut. The odor was strong,
resembling that of roasting peanuts, and care had to be taken that the half extin-
guished coal did not set the mat carpet afire. As shown in Fig. 106 the same stone
lamp that held the oil could also be used for candlestick for the nut candles.
The lamps were of many forms, not very portable but durable beyond most
modern lamps. Their forms are shown in Fig. 107 and others are described in the
already published account of Hawaiian Stone Implements.*** The oil was ground out
of the nuts in stone mortars many of which are figured in the same work (p. 366), and
all important houses had one or more of these, as the oil was home-made. Fig. 108
shows a common form of mortar, but some were of considerable size and good work-
manship. Usually the stone pestles were neither so large nor so neatly finished as
those of the Amerind, but then the latter had greater use for the implement in grind-
^ Memoirs of B. B. Bishop Museum, vol. i, pt. 4, p. 391.
L315I
132
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
ing meal for his bread. Although the nut season was a long one there were times
when the supply must have failed these improvident children of nature, and the fat of
a pig or a dog served as substitute.
Doubtless a chief had many adzes, slingstones, clubs, sinkers and many other
stone implements about his house, but these have been described in the work referred
to, and we can only here call particular attention to the poi pounders which from their
continued use seem to connect us with the stone age, as they were among the earliest
tools fashioned by the Hawaiian immigrant on his arrival in these islands. His near-
FIG. 107. STONE I,AMPS.
est patterns were in Central and South America. Their various forms are shown in
Fig. 109 here repeated from the ficcount of the stone implements as it shows the differ-
ence between pestles and pounders: the latter had no stone mortar- to grind against,
but were used on a flat and shallow wooden trough, which, when not in use generally
leaned against the outer wall of the house and was plainly visible from a distance.
These poi troughs {papa kui poi) were hewn from some tough wood, as ohia
{Metrosideros polymorphd) ^"^ and are either of small size for convenience in traveling,
when the alii always, if possible, had their attendants carry all the requirements for
making poi, or if for home use of sufficient size to serve two persons pounding, one at
either end and each with his own portion of kalo. A very old poi board in the Bishop
^In modern times the natives and Chinese make much use of the softer wood of the Monkey-pod {Pitheco-
'obium siamang ). Xxi 61
Carrying-Sticks.
133
Museum, Fig. no, is of an irregular circular form, thirty-nine inches in the greatest
diameter, while in the same collection another which can boast of less antiquity, but
of the most approved form is sixty-five inches long and twenty-three and a half inches
wide. As the stone pounder struck the elastic mass of poi and not the trough, this
lasted through several generations of poi makers. At present most of the poi con-
sumed in Honolulu is made by the industrious Chinese or at the poi factory where
modern machinery and methods are used in Kalihi.
Although in the enumeration of the houses of an Hawaiian alii's establishment no
mention was made of carriage house or bam, yet they all kept a carriage, though of the
most primitive form. In war the pololu^ a long stick of kauila wood, formed the carriage
of the commissary department and went to battle,
the ends resting on the shoulders of two men
while the length was hung with neat bundles of
hard poi {paiai) wrapped in ki leaves. If the
chief fell in battle his retainers endeavored to save
his bod}^ and carry it home slung by the wrists
and ankles to this pololu. If he returned tri-
umphant the pololu, which was often more than
five yards long, was set up in front of his house
as in later days a flag staff would be planted.
That these carriages were held in respect let me
quote the record attached to one in the Bishop
Museum (No. 804): "The tree grew at Puukapele,
Kauai, from which this spear was made for
Kamehameha I, who gave it to his soldier and
aikane Hema just before the battle of Mukuohai
fought against Kiwala6. Hema also used it in six other important battles, viz., at
Laupahoehoe against Keoua Kuahuula ; in a sea fight in the Moana o Alanuihaha
against Kahekili and Kaeo; at the battle of lao against Kahekili and Kaleikupule;
in the battle of Kanaawa at Hilo, Hawaii, against Namakeha ; at Keaau, Puna, in the
excursion of Kaleleiki ; at Kaunakakai, Molokai, againt Kaleikupule. In the peace-
ful times that followed the conquests of Kamehameha the old spear was trimmed into
an auamo aipuupuu and used to carry the calabashes of the alii." Let us see what
the less renowned auamo were like.
Auamo. — To carry the gourds, umekes and other similar burdens poles were
used, made of some tough wood, slightly bent and more or less notched at the ends*
In Weber's piAure of the newly discovered village at the mouth of the Waimea river
[317]
KIG. 108. STONE MORTAR.
FIG. 109. POI BOARD AND POUNDERS.
(134)
FIG. 1 10. POI BOARDS.
[3x8]
The Auamo or Bearing Stick.
135
on Kauai, two natives are seen carrying a live pig slung on a straight pole resting on
their shoulders, and in the old songs there are references to this bearing stick genera-
tions before Cook's visit. The section of an auamo was generally, if not always, cir-
cular, and not well fitted to rest easily on the bare shoulder; hence a porter was known
by the callus formed at the point of contact.^" These bearing sticks were also known
as aumaka or mamaka. The Hawaiian sometimes used a straight round pole pointed
at both ends for one especial
^ -^ggg^g^^gg^^ggggg^^^^^ purpose, — to meet the de-
mands of foreigners for hay,
an article not imported in the
period previous to 1865. The
native hay dealer skilfully
packed two long bundles of
grass in such a way as to
seem of considerable bulk,
but often containing but little
grass. These he transfixed
with his pointed pole and
brought into market as shown
in Fig. 112. Probably none
of the present generation of
Hawaiians ever saw these
bundles, but I think I remem-
ber one native who brought
me grass for my horse in
Honolulu, using a genuine
China stick.
Of course a well-to-do man
or a chief did not use auamo,
but he had to provide them for his servants, and the specimens existing in this
Museum show that more care was expended upon these implements than would be
expeAed of mere porters. Fig. 113 shows the ends of some of these auamo, and the
following list gives their material and length: —
^°The bearing stick of the Chinese is much better suited for the purpose having a broad, almost flat surface
where it rests upon the shoulder and is without notches, although sometimes one or two pins were inserted to answer
the same purpose as notches. It is easy enough to keep the suspended baskets from slipping off in the flat country
of China, or of most Chinese towns, but the Hawaiian had to climb most difficult paths in his native islands, and it
would often be impossible to keep the pole perfectly horizontal. The Chinese poles were early introduced (before
Vancouver) but were not copied by the Hawaiian. A good "China stick" is six feet long ; two inches wide at each
end and at the middle, tapering between these points ; is one and a quarter inches thick at the middle and weighs
only three pound s. I "^ I Q 1
FIG. III. BEARING THE POI OF AN ALII.
136
The Ancient Hawaiian House,
LIST OF AUAMO IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM.
144 Auamo kii of kauila wood well carved with two human heads at each end.
Made by Kipolo during the reign of Kamehameha III (d. 1854). 72.5 in. long;
weighs 3.5 lbs. G in Fig. 113.
145 Auamo kii with two rudely carved human heads at each end. From Queen
Emma's colleAion. 97.5 in. E.
146 Auamo kii with a head and three teeth at each end ; the head perhaps of an
akua. 69 in. D.
147 Auamo of ulei wood with three
notches at each end. From S. Kona,
Hawaii. 41 in. F.
148 Auamo of kauila; one notch. 45 in.
149 Auamo of koa, very old. 49 in.
150 Auamo of guava wood. Made by
Kapela of Keauhou, S. Kona, Hawaii.
37.5 in. B.
151 Auamo of ulei with two notches at
each end. 62 in.
152 Auamo of kauila wood. From Queen
Emma's colle6lion. 61.5 in.
153 Auamo of ulei. From Kau, Hawaii.
44.5 in.
154 Auamo. 43.5 in.
6695 Auamo of kauila wood. Ailau col-
le6lion. 46.5 in.
7595 Auamo of kauila. 61.7 in. C.
9475 Auamo with projecting notch. 51 in.
9521 Auamo of akia (?) wood. 61 in.;
weighs 4.5 lbs. A.
9522 Auamo much bowed. 46.7 in.
9523 Auamo round and tapering. 46.5 in.
9524 Auamo of light wood, notch wide, raised. 49 in.
9525 Auamo of light wood, notch slightly raised. 49.5 in
9526 Auamo of very light wood, one end mended. 44 in.
9527 Auamo of kauila, notch cut in. 54.5 in.
9528 Auamo, smooth and old, one end broken. 47 in.
9529 Auamo of kauila, slight notch. 46.5 in.
[320]
FIG. 112. HAWAIIAN HAY DEAI,ER IN 1864.
Vegetable Crockery.
137
Gourds as Containers. — No Hawaiian laid up food for future use : he had
not acquired the domestic economy of the Marquesan or the Kusaien who prepare food
from the breadfruit or the pandanus during the seasons of plenty for the needs of other
times. He had, however, to prepare his poi some time before a fermentation made it
palatable, hence a number of containers were needed, and in most families there was a
a never-failing supply of this
national bread. Containers
were needed, and the earliest,
^ probably were the gourd
shells, ipu of the natives, since
this name has attached to
g vessels made for many gener-
ations of wood, as we shall see
later, and even to the stone
c lamps {ipu ktikui). The large
gourd (^Curcubiia maxima)^
D ipti nut of the natives, was
found on this group at the
time of Cook's visit, although
K unknown to other Polyne-
sians, and of unknown deriva-
tion. Its huge fruits are
F . .
sometimes several feet in di-
ameter, the rind thin and
G strong, and serve not only for
bowls and dishes, but also for
traveling trunks (Fig. 114),
for which purpose they were
well adapted by their tough-
ness, lightness and impermeability to rain. Slung in the network koko from the auamo
on the shoulder of a stout, active Hawaiian they have often accompanied the writer on
mountain trails, one of the pair containing food, the other a change of raiment, while
the bottle gourd in the middle carried water, often so hard to find good in mountain
climbing on Hawaii.
As these gourds were on the islands or brought by the early immigrants, they
were perhaps the first material at hand for containers, and they were certainly used
widely and in many ways. They were always what took the place of crockery with
FIG. 113. ENDS OF HAWAIIAN AUAMO IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM
[32
ays
A
FIG. 114. GOURD CONTAINERS.
FIG. 115. bottle-gourd: HUEWAI.
(138)
[322]
Gourds Broken and Repaired.
139
the poorer folk, and with these they hold the same place today in the country regions.
If the immigrants brought the seeds of this vegetable, as well as the coconut, with
them their canoes must have had the capacity for freight that is fabulously imputed
to the Mayflower. In the case of the gourd, while not emulating Jonah's, only a few
months would be required to renew the supply, while the coconut, the only other source
of containers, cups or bottles, would require twelve to fourteen years before fruiting:
the latter vegetable pottery they used to an extent second only to the gourd.
FIG. 116. MENDED IPU.
Besides the large Curcubita the Hawaiians had also the bottle-gourd {Lage-
naria vulgaris)^ a vine found over a much wider territory than its larger relative, and
with the two they were not meanly provided with vessels for containing food and drink.
Easy to prepare, the ipu were fragile, and we find them neatly repaired with great
pains, when broken, for the threads of olond which were to bind the fragments together
must be twisted on the thigh in the Polynesian way,^' for they had no spindle, a refine-
ment that the dwellers in the palafittes in the Swiss and Italian lakes had used sixty
centuries before. Then holes for the thread must be drilled in the easily penetrated
substance, and for this they had the pump drill which is found all over the Pacific
islands, in Papuan as well as Polynesian groups. We have seen its use in the coarser
work of door framing, and we have in Fig. 116 two specimens of neat work on the more
'* See an illustration of this on p. 51, Vol. I, Memoirs of this Museum.
[323]
I40
The Anaent Hawaiian House.
delicate substance. Today in the time spent in mending these vessels of comparatively
little value, one could earn enough to buy a dozen new ones. Not so in ancient days,
for time was abundant and most of the ancient vessels both of gourd and of wood were
more or less patched:
as we go on we shall
see many of these.
Of the Curcubita
were made a great va-
riety of things useful
about a house as well
as the large bowls.
First were the covers
for these bowls which
also served as dishes
when the bowls were
uncovered, and the
gourd covers were com-
monly used on the
later bowls of wood.
Long, narrow slices of
these gourds made con-
^ ^ ^_ venient platters, and
FIG. 117. GOURD BOX. ^ '
fragments of broken ones were
used for many purposes.
Gourd Boxes.— The thicker
gourds were fashioned in such
a way as to be tolerably tight
so they could be used to store
feather work or choice kapas.
Such a box is shown in Fig. 117.
This is 63 inches in circumfer-
ence and 16 inches high, and it
will be noticed that the cover fig. 118. long gourd boxes.
is cut from the shell with two projedlions or wings, and this can be kept in place by
cords passing through the drilled holes, two on each side. Such boxes were used for
storage rather than traveling, in which the thinner gourds, illustrated in Fig. 114, were
[324]
Music front Gourds.
141
preferred. I do not know how the thick shelled varieties were produced, but the sub-
stance between the inner and outer skins is fairly dense, perhaps more so than in the
thin varieties, which are often eaten by white ants which destroy nearly the whole
median tissue.
Long thin varieties of this Curcubita were also used for storage of the feather
capes and leis, and were sometimes so curved that they could be hung over a beam or
rafter. Two of these long boxes,
now in this Museum, are shown
on Fig. 118. Gourds that were
in form and size between the large
bowls and these long boxes were
in demand for hula drums (Fig.
119), and few houses of the alii
were not provided with some of
these popular instruments for beat-
ing time for the hula dance.
From the bottle -gourds were
made, besides the bottles, an end-
less variety of conveniences, some
of which were so common as to
demand notice, while others were
local and trivial and may be
passed by. But the bottles them-
selves varied greatly: there were
the almost globular ones with a
very short neck, handy on a jour-
ney; the long necked ones for
household use, and the hour-glass
shaped ones which were easily carried by a cord passed around the constridlion, while
the others had to be provided with a net or sling. The fishermen's huewai were long
and almost without necks, that they might be laid on the bottom of the canoes out of
the way. These are shown in Fig. 120. An unique form has been shown in a previous
part of the Museum Memoirs,^' in which compression had been applied to the growing
gourd by means of a net, and the bulbous portion, to which alone the pressure was
applied, was forced into round protuberances which, as may be seen by referring to
the figure, were decidedly ornamental.
^*01d Hawaiian Carvings found in a Cave on the Island of Hawaii. Memoirs II, No. 2. The gourd bottle is
figured on p. 17 ( 170) and here reproduced, Fig. 121. F "^2 ^ 1
FIG. 119. GOURD HULA DRUMS.
142
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
To stop the mouth of a water bottle the Hawaiians used a Terebra shell, a small
cachelot tooth, or a neatly folded palm or pandanus leaf fragment. To the present
day these gourd bottles are in demand, although hard to find, for carrying water
while on a mountain tramp, for they are light and keep the water cooler than the
ordinary tin canteen.
FIG. 1 20. GOURD WATER BOTTLES FOR CANOES.
Funnels. — The necks of the huewai are often so long and slender that one
perforce admires the patience exercised in originally emptying the gourd through so
long and restricted a passage : especially when it is remembered that after rotting the
pulp and farther disintegrating the softer portions of the shell by shaking in it the
small pebbles that took the place filled by shot in washing glass bottles, the whole re-
sulting mass of pulp, pebbles and seeds had to pass out of an aperture often less than
three-eighths of an inch in diameter. To fill such a bottle with water required a
funnel, and the gourd furnished these of two general forms as shown in Fig. 122.
One (1231) was a segment of a bottle, a little less than half, the lower part of the
[326]
Funnels for Huewai.
143
neck serving as spout; the other (1230) was a bottle with a disk removed from the
bottom to form the mouth of the funnel. The first time I saw one of these bottles
filled, however, was without any funnel. All along the coast of Oahu, east of Diamond
FIG. 121. COMPRESSED GOURD WATER BOTTLE.
Head, springs of fresh water are found below the sea level, and near Leahi one of con-
siderable size and force of current exists. My native diver placed his thumb over the
neck of his empty huewai, plunged into the sea and soon emerged with a bottle full of
sweet water. The process used to be common before the Nuuanu waters were brought
over the town of Honolulu.
[327]
144
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Strainers. — Awa drinking was neither so universal on the Hawaiian Islands
as on the southern groups, nor attended with so many ceremonies, but as the same
process of chewing the peppery root and washing the masticated mass with water was
followed, it was of course necessary to strain out the woody fibre from the green liquor,
and there were three implements used as convenience served. First the funnel shown
at the left in Fig. 122 could be partly filled with vegetable fibre and the liquor poured
through this; second, a special strainer was made from a gourd bottle as shown in
Fig. 123, the neck being loosely filled with fibre. The third was perhaps the most
ancient form and was a coconut cup with the "eyes'' enlarged slightl}?', as may be seen
in the illustration of coconut cups. Fig. 128, upper cup.
FIG. 122. GOURD FUNNELS.
IpU Pawehe. — The instinct of surface decoration, rather Papuan than Poly-
nesian, displayed itself on these gourd vessels as well as on the kapa or bark paper,
and we have both tctneke pawehe and huewai pawehe^ bowls decorated and water bottles
decorated : a fact that testifies to the esteem in which these fragile articles, — a sort of
vegetable faience, — were held. Plate XXXVI will show the nature of this bichromatic
design as applied to the umeke, in black and one of the various shades of orange-brown.
In old specimens the orange is so deep that it is difficult, if not impossible to obtain
by photography the distindlion between pattern and ground, even with all the refine-
ments of ray filters and plates especially sensitive to the orange rays.
The process by which this coloration was obtained was simple, but is variously
described by the authors who have noticed the decoration. Malo's account we have
[328]
Staining the Gourd.
145
given : my notes from the makers of huewai pawehe of half a century ago give it as
follows : The portion to be left of the natural color of the gourd was covered with a var-
nish or glaze impervious to water, and the parts to be colored black were then scraped
bare and the vessel immersed for a season in the mud of a kalo pond : a sort of etching
process. I confess on examining
some of the fine specimens in this
Mifseum I do not see how this
proceeding could produce such re-
sults, and I will quote from Rev.
William Ellis :^^
When the calabash is grown to its
full size, they empty it in the usual man-
ner, by placing it in the sun till the
inside is decayed, and may be shaken
out. The shell, which remains entire,
except the small perforation made at the
stalk for the purpose of discharging its
contents, and serving as a mouth to the
vessel, is, when the calabash is large,
sometimes half an inch thick. In order
to stain it, they mix several bruised
herbs, principally the stalks and leaves
of the arum, and a quantity of dark fer-
ruginous earth, with water, and fill the
vessel with it. They then draw with a
piece of hard wood or stone on the out-
side of the calabash whatever figures
they wish to ornament it with. These
are various being either rhomboids,
stars, circles, or wave and straight lines,
in separate sections, or crossing each
other at right angles, generally marked
with a great degree of accuracy and
taste. After this coloring matter has
remained three or four days in the cala-
bashes, they are put into a native oven 74 and baked. When they are taken out, all the parts previ-
ously marked appear beautifully brown or black, while those places where the skin has not been
broken, retain their natural bright yellow colour. The dye is now emptied out, and the calabash
dried in the sun ; the whole of the outside appears perfectly smooth and shining, while the colours
imparted by the above process remain indelible.
'^Tour of Hawaii, second edition, p. 376.
^*This imu or oven consists of an excavation in the ground lined and generally floored also with stones. A fire
is kept up in this until the stones are very hot, when the articles to be cooked are put in the place of the fire, wrapped
in ki leaves, and the coals and hot stones piled about the deposit which is then covered with earth and mats ana left
for some time. The result, if the oven is properly timed, is excellent. New Englanders will recognize the method
of their clam-bake, which was learned from the Amerind.
Memoirs B. P. B. Museum. Vol. II, No. 3.— lo. L3^9J
FIG. 123. GOURD AWA STRAINER.
i
146
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
The huewai shown in Fig. 124 are modern, and the maker does not seem to have
attained the full black dye of the older artisans. These ipu pawehe are rare in museums,
and this Museum is fortunate in possessing a very full series of these decorated gourds,
which were mostly the property of the alii. The black of the olden time seems durable,
but the orange of the gourd is blackened in the tropical sun and also by the oil which
was sure to get on them from the oiled hair and bodies of the natives. Plate XXXVI
shows some of the best of the umeke pawehe, and also some of the huewai. This form
FIG. 124. HUEWAI PAWEHE.
of decoration is found also on the hula drums (Fig. 119, used for beating time to the
dance) which were made of large specimens of Curcubita, and the resemblance to
tatuing is close; the figures on the huewai in Fig. 124 are quite like the tatu patterns
formerly impressed on Hawaiian limbs.
The uses of gourds were too extensive to describe fully in a treatise on house
furniture, but it may be mentioned that a form was used as an injedlion syringe
(Fig. 125, a); the neck of a broken bottle was used as a reel for a fish-line (b);
another portion in shape of a funnel was the principal implement in a game of toss (c);
small gourds were filled with pebbles (d) and used as rattles {uliuli hula) or in the
dance as castanets, and finally the fragments were used as Job used the potsherds
[330]
Coconut Utensils.
H7
when afflicted with furunculi. Truly the gourd was a most useful adjunct to the
furnishing of a native house I The cultivation of this vegetable, once very extensive,
had, in the early sixties, dwindled to a few places in Puna, Hawaii, and as many
on the southerly shores of Kauai, and is now nearly extinct on this group. The
Lagenaria has lasted longer than the Curcubita.
B c
FIG. 125. GOURD IMPLEMENTS.
Coconut Utensils. — The fruit of the Coco palm has been several times referred
to, and we may now examine some of the many uses this nut serves in the domestic
economy of the Hawaiian. Little was peculiar to this people for the coconut is so
widely spread through the tropics that many other races have exhausted their inge-
nuity in devising implements from the hard, durable shell of the coconut. Still it is
well to show what the Hawaiians did with this material. First, probably the nuts
served as water-bottles, as they still do in many parts of the Pacific, especially in the
southern groups where they attain a greater size than on Hawaii. There is one in
this Museum from Samoa that has capacity of ninety-two ounces or nearly three
quarts. Not less ancient was their use as drinking cups, and the Hawaiians made a
distinction between ordinary cups {apu niu) and those exclusively for the use of the
priests to which the name olo was given. The former were cut at right angles to the
vertical axis while the latter were cut parallel to this determinant : both forms are
shown in Fig. 126. A coconut cup was the orthodox form for awa drinking, and such
cups by long use gather a fine patina which is as much valued by awa experts as the
rich color of a meerschaum pipe by its smoker. Although coconut cups are often
[331]
FIG. 126. COCONUT CUPS.
FIG. 127. COCONUT SPOONS AND LADLES.
Uses of Coconut Shells.
149
found in the burial caves deposited with the dead, no decorated ones are known.
T he beautiful carving of the Marquesan, Fijian and others shown in Plate XXXVII
a nd Fig. 128 is not found on Hawaii.
Next, perhaps, came the use of coconuts for spoons, filling a natural need, and
almost any concave fragment served, but soon the handle was developed, and a very
complete ladle {poma pu niu) resulted. As the Hawaiians did not boil their food, and
soups were unknown, this manufadlure was not so important as in the groups where
the discovery of pot-
tery was followed by
hot liquids. The in-
digenous products are
shown in Fig. 127. In
certain districts where
the water supply was
scarce and kalo could
not be cultivated, the
sweet potato ( uala
maoli) took its place
as daily bread, but the
resulting mass was
wanting in the adhe-
sive qualities of the
kalo-made poi and
could not be wound up
on the fingers, so a
spoon was needed, and
the bits of coconut figured were and are still used to convey this food to the mouth.
For salt cellars disks of the shell answered very well.
A§ the coconut shell takes a beautiful polish the manufadlure of cups, bowls and
small dishes has been much modified under foreign influence. Among Hawaiians
these polished nut cups, foreign even to the glue that unites the cup and base, the
latter the work of the turner, are still popular for individual poi bowls at feasts. Their
form is shown in Fig. 129 which presents four well made cups from the colledlion of
the Princess Ruta Keelikolani now in this Museum. The first is one of the large
southern nuts on a turned stand of kou wood ; the second shows a cover and base also
of the nut ; the third is a well-proportioned cup and stand, and the last is one of the
yellow variety of nut. Both the dark and light varieties of shell were esteemed, but
[333J
FIG. 128. MARQUESAN CARVED CUP.
I50
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
the former takes the better polish ; one in this Museum from the Society Islands is
perhaps the most beautifully polished coconut I have seen.
Besides polishing, which is a comparatively modem fashion, the other groups
furnish examples of inlaying most artistically and neatly done. The cannibals of the
Solomon group have inlaid a simple coconut shell cup with crenate triangles of pearl
shell in a way that would do credit to a civilized artisan who had never eaten his
fellow man. The shell is hard and thin and the recesses cut for the inlay must be
shallow, but the method of decoration is much used among the Solomon Islanders and
they certainly understand their material (Fig. 130). On other Pacific groups much
FIG. 129. MODERN COCONUT CUPS OF THE HAWAIIANS.
greater use was made of the coconut. How far the decoration of cups went, I cannot
say, for I do not know of any colledlion to illustrate this, but certain specimens on
hand in this Museum may be noticed. On the Fijian group a plain cup has an attach-
ment of braided coir, so that one drinking from the cup could use this permanent
napkin which could be washed with the cup (Fig. 131). On the Marquesas coconuts
were often incised with the peculiar figures so much used there in tatuing and wood
carving. Fig. 128 shows a cup or basket, if we consider the handle, which has a pleas-
ing pattern surrounding the bowl. Similar to these are the Fijian carved cups and
oil bottles shown in Plate XXXVII. The Papuans of New Guinea also carved their
coconuts, and examples of their work are shown on the same plate. The latter coco-
nuts seem to have a very thin shell, compared with the other nuts described.
[334]
Coconut Bottles,
151
The Solomon Islanders had no bottle gourds and they supplied the want by an
ingenious use of the coconut in which the material was completely disguised by coat-
ing the nut with a gum {Partnartum ?) ^ which cemented to a hole on the top a joint
of bambu which was also coated with the same material. The result resembled
pottery, and the nut portion was decorated with imbedded shells or beads forming
patterns of great variety. Fig. 133 shows several of these bottles.
On the Micronesian groups, where coconuts are abundant and fresh water
scarce, the nuts are used extensively for carrying and preserving water. The natural
nut is cleaned out, the "eye" enlarged and plugged with a pandanus leaf tightly folded
FIG. 130. SOLOMON ISLANDS CUP.
for a stopple and with the attachment of two cords of coconut fibre, the bottle is
complete. Two are usually on the same cord, as shown in Fig. 132, for convenience
of carrying. Other groups use the same contrivance, and I have found it on Samoa,
Fiji and almost identical in Singapore, Akyab and western India.
After the introdudlion of tobacco a small coconut shell became the favorite tobacco
box {Jia7io baka). A series of these in the Museum colledlion is shown in Fig. 134.
The cups formed of the lower end of these long slender nuts were much in demand for
mixing fish bait, while precisely the same thing was used in the Caroline Islands for
moulding the cakes of red paint called tazk. We must not forget that these nuts had
part in the amusements of the Hawaiians, both as rattles {uluili hula^ Fig. 125, d) pre-
cisely as the small gourds were used, and as drums to be bound to the arms {^punzu
huld)^ but of these a more complete description belongs to the chapter on Amusements.
[335]
152
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Here we may mention a pleasing custom of the Hawaiians which has survived
within my own observation, for a chief to bend down a young coconut tree in token of
taking possession, and ever afterwards the tree was known by the name of that chief,
and on gathering the first nuts, the chief had them made into cups for presents to
friends. Several such cups are in this Museum, as the cup of Pauahi, the mother
of Keelikolani, that of Queen Kamamalu, and that of Liliha, Madame Boki and
daughter of Hoapili: the last two cups
were from the famous grove of palms at
Kalapana on Hawaii.
The cups shown in Fig. 135 were
such as described. Beginning on the left
of the figure. No. 5016 was a cup of Pauahi,
mother of Keelikolani; No. 1521 belonged
to Liliha, daughter of Hoapili and wife of
Boki. The next is No. 5028, an umeke
kou used for poi by Queen Emma when a
child. No. 1519 also belonged to Liliha;
No. 5012 to Pauahi; No. 1520 to Liliha,
and the last one. No. 5017, belonged to
Queen Kamamalu, daughter of Kameha-
meha I, who with her husband Liholiho
died in England in 1824.
Umeke I/Oau. — Implements of wood
were by far the most interesting as well as
most numerous of all the domestic utensils
in Hawaiian housekeeping, and we shall
find much to surprise us and not a little to
commend. From their material they were
more durable than the vessels of gourd ; from the labor bestowed upon them they were
proportionately valued ; and like the precious feather work were preserved in families,
and handed down from generation to generation, until the foreigner has come to the
Islands and appreciating the workmanship and grace, has tried to imitate them on the
lathe, but with poor success and has ended in gathering to himself the choicest remains
of this "Age of Wood", and a genuine hand-made umeke is now a rare and costly treas-
ure; fine ones have been sold for more than five hundred dollars.
[336]
FIG. 131. FIJIAN CUP AND WIPER.
FIG. 132. MICRONESIAN WATER BOTTLES.
FIG. 133. SOLOMON ISLANDS COCONUT BOTTLES.
FIG. 134. COCONUT TOBACCO BOXES.
FIG. 135. COCONUT CUPS OF THE HIGH CHIEFS.
Old Hawaiian Umekes.
155
In no one thing has the artistic taste of the old Hawaiian come into closer touch
with the best taste of older civilized nations than in the making of wooden bowls.
Unlike the Maori, who carefully kept and honored the memory of the artists among
them whose carving was good, the Hawaiian has not preserved a single name of those
who patiently with stone tools fashioned the umeke, plain or grotesquely carved, that
have come down to us. The Maori sculptor made astonishing relief work as we have
seen in the portions of houses and figures already illustrated in these pages; his carved
bowls or dishes were curious, some of them so close in motive to some of the Hawaiian
FIG. 136. UMEKE NO. 416 : VERY OI,D.
dishes that I shall show later a Maori dish that closely resembles a favorite Hawaiian
form ; but when we look through his bowls, dishes and general household utensils we
shall find nothing to compare with some of the Hawaiian umeke, and if we extend our
examination through the other groups the result will be the same. Grotesque and most
interesting work we shall find in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, very original
dishes on the little Matty Island, but these Papuans had pottery to make bowls and
dishes which would parallel the uses of the Hawaiian umeke. The Admiralty Island-
ers made huge bowls, but their decorations were more striking than their shapes.
The Marquesans made bowls after the general form of the Hawaiians but with none
of the finish. Perhaps if we knew more of these and other groups, and had adequate
colleAions of the work in this class that each has in the past fabricated, — for this is
all past now, — our judgment might be modified ; but in the absence of sufl&cient explora-
[339]
156
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
tion, in a few years useless, if the appointed time be not already passed, we are com-
pelled to base our judgment on the coUeAions in museums. From these sources, with
the extensive material of the Bishop Museum at hand, and beautiful photographs of the
Salem Museum, and other great coUeAions before us, we feel justified in placing the un-
known Hawaiian carver of umeke high among the departed artists of the Pacific region,
and so far as illustrations go, the reader can see the quality of their work for himself.
They not only excelled in form, which is unfortunately the only quality we can
present to our readers in the illustration, but they worked in wood of most agreeable
FIG. 137. UMEKE NO. 417: VERY OI.D.
colors 'and markings and capable of a most exquisite polish: the latter quality was one
not present to the old Hawaiians, who attained a fine, smooth finish in the manner to
be described later, but never the glassy polish dear to many colleAors of this ware,
and which, although an anachronism it must be confessed displays the beautiful mark-
ings of the wood perfectly.
Among the woods most commonly used was the kou {Cordia subcordata) a littoral
tree of large growth and spreading habit, found as fai south of the equator as Madagas-
car, and formerly planted near the native houses along the beach for its grateful shade,
but seldom seen now, owing to the ravages of a small moth Azinis hilarella=-Ethmia
colorella W. It is almost extinct on this group. The opinion of some botanists is that
[340]
The Material Used for Umeke.
157
it has been introduced, but if so it must have been in very early time in the history of
the people, as the ancient songs often mention the kou. The size the tree attains is
shown by an umeke in this Museum which is nine feet in circumference, and of course
made of the heartwood. To fell such a tree with a stone axehead weighing, it may
be, ten pounds, must have required patience as well as muscle in the doing. Some of
the oldest umeke in existence, which have been found in long ago closed burial caves
are of this rather soft but durable wood.
Another tree the Mtlo {Thespesia populnea^ has the same geographical range
as the kou, the same habitat, and like the former tree is passing away and is seldom
FIG. 138. UMEKE NO. 4IO: VERY OI,D.
seen out of gardens, while a century ago it was planted about the houses of the alii, as
is well remembered around that of Kamehameha the Great at Waikiki. Even the
name is the same on the southeastern groups, where it was almost a sacred tree. It is
a smaller tree than the kou, hence we have no large umekes from its wood, but there
are very choice small bowls or cups. Its distinguishing feature is a rich peach color
and under polish a translucent agate-like appearance.
Another beautiful and durable wood is the Kamani {Calophyllunt inophylltitn)^
a tree found all through tropical Asia and the Polynesian islands and used on Hawaii
to some extent for umekes. The tree itself is even more beautiful than its wood, and its
glossy leaves and sweet-scented flowers caused the old Hawaiians to plant it near their
[341]
158
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
houses while other Polynesians attached a semi-sacred character to groves of the tree,
of which we find a trace in the sacred grove near the Puhonua or place of refuge at
Halawa at the east end of Molokai/* The wood is of a brighter color than the kou.
The heart wood of the coconut was sometimes used for umeke, but those in
collections of genuine old umeke would not amount to more than five per cent, of the
whole number. When polished, coconut wood was very striking, but the old Hawaii-
ans never carried their polishing far enough to bring out the full effect, and when
unpolished the effect is dull in the extreme.
FIG. 139. UMEKE OPAKA OF KOU WOOD: NOS. 6003, 6004.
The Neneleau {Rktis semialaid) is usually a small tree but at times attains a
considerable diameter. In the Bishop Museum is a bowl of this wood (No. 105 1)
14.5 inches in diameter. This wood is plain and close grained.
A more common material for wooden bowls of the less important sort was the
ohia {Metrosideros polymorpka) of which the wood was hard and durable and much
used for house building, the black variety for idols, and at the present day for railroad
ties and fuel. See Plate XXXVIII for a choice umeke of this wood. In modern times
the showy but coarse-grained and soft wood of the Monkey pod {Pithecolobium siamang)
has been much used for bowls and other vessels.
"Hillebrand was mistaken in stating that this ^roy^ formerly existed. In 1890 it was in a flourishing con-
dition, except that it needed thinning out, and I transplanted several seedlings to my garden in Nuuanu valley in
Honolulu, where they flourish and one has attained in seventeen years to a height of about thirty feet and a girth
of forty-seven inches a foot above the ground.
[342I
How Umekes Were Made. 159
Technique of Bowl Carving.— Although they did not always succeed, as
we see from the many cracks mended in the old bowls, the Hawaiian skilled in wood
working tried to season his wood thoroughly by cutting it into suitable blocks and
then sinking it in some pool where it might soak for months. When a dark tone was
desired, the block was sunk in the mud of a kalo patch where the ferruginous mud soon
produced the appearance of age even on light colored wood fresh from the maker's hand.
When sufficiently seasoned the block was shaped outside as a solid object as may
be seen in Fig. 140. We are exceedingly fortunate in having a good series of half-
FIG. 140. BLOCKS PARTLY SHAPED PERHAPS A CENTURY AGO.
shaped blocks in the Museum colleAions. A few years ago, when Hon. Chas. R. Bishop
was having some excavations made on his estate at Waikiki the laborers dug from
the sand a number of such blocks, some of which are shown in the figure, so many
indeed, that it was evident they had been intentionally buried. Probably at the ap-
proach of Kamehameha's hostile fleet, the artisan in bowls hurriedly buried his whole
stock in the soft sand for safety : either he was killed in the fight or forgot the place
of concealment, for the cache was left for another generation to study and spell out the
way of working. Another specimen of a deep umeke (No. 8571), fashioned externally
but only half excavated was given to the Museum by Mr. Henry G. K. Lyman : in
this it is easy to see how the pecking out of the core was done.
It will be at once asked by the turner of modern times how they managed to
strike a circle ? There are no signs of any circle struck on the flat surface, and all
[343]
i6o
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
the specimens show, what can be seen in those figured, that the rough block was only
approximately circular, and it seems certain that the final rotundity was given by the
accurate eye of the artisan. Whether the result of warping or not, the accurate meas-
urements of the genuine old umeke always detect a small deviation from the circle
which can sometimes be seen by the eye. They however used for preliminary meas-
ures a flat strip of bambu which also served for a "straight edge" or rule: I have
never seen one of these bambu rules graduated or marked in any definite way.
In excavating the inside it is curious to note how they adopted the method of
the modern turner as shown in the first bowl in the figure, where an excavation was
FIG. 141. OPAKA OR POI^YHEDRAL UMEKE: 523-488.
carried to a certain depth then an inner concentric circle was dug out in proportion to
the outside curvature, and finally the angular benches were dug or grated down to the
final surface. In all cases where a handle was desired a part of the block was left for
that purpose, a thing the turner cannot do : he must carve his handle in a separate
piece and glue or pin it on. In some of the old ipu kuha or spittoons found in burial
caves and supposed to be of considerable antiquity this handle is of slight projection,
in others has been bored for a string at some time subsequent to its original making,
for the bore is rough and of inferior workmanship: these handles can be compared in
the plate where many ipu kuha are photographed. (Plate XXXII.)
In some of these half-made bowls, I think I can detect the mark of a small,
sharp adze, and again the marks of a stone chisel, but the tool which seems to a mod-
ern amateur carpenter most efficient, the shark tooth cutter, does not appear to have
been used on these blocks. It was, however, the favorite tool of the carver of figures.
[344]
Deeper Unteke.
i6i
A more difficult feat than shaping a circular bowl was making a polyhedral bowl.
These are rare, and were evidently valued as they are found only in the possession of
chiefs or their descendants. Those shown in Fig. 141 belonged to the Kamehameha
family and from them came direAly to this Museum. The sides are closely equal and
beautifully finished, the flat surfaces fading into the curved ones in a most graceful
manner.
FIG. 142. DEEP UMEKE.
In size the Hawaiian umeke varied greatly as shown in Fig. 148 where the cen-
tral one has a circumference of 74 inches and a height of 20 inches. The largest one
in the Museum is 89.5 inches in circumference and 19.5 inches high, and natives claim
that there are larger ones, but I have not seen them. A modern turner would have
some trouble to handle a block of such size, and yet the old Hawaiian cut down his
tree with his stone adze, shaped his block with the same implement of smaller size,
and finally with stone dug out the core. In depth also they varied greatly. Some were
hardly more than round platters, while others were deep in proportion to their diame-
ter as two to one. Fig. 142 shows two of the deeper ones, the first belonging to the
Museum, the other to the family of the late Chief Justice Judd. There is another
much deeper, formerly in the palace, and said to be the Ipu makani of Laomaomao the
Hawaiian ^olus, in which he kept his winds. Many of these deep umeke had thick
[345]
Memoirs B. P. B. Museum, Vol. II, No. 3.— ii
FIG. 143. UMEKE NOS. 469 AND 481.
FIG. 144. UMEKE NO. IO49.
FIG. 145. UMEKE NO. 2291.
FIG. 146. UMEKE NOS. 557 AND 433.
FIG. 147. MODERN TURNED UMEKE.
FIG. 148. COMPARATIVE SIZE AND SHAPE OF UMEKE.
164
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
bottoms and remarkably thin wa^s, so that if placed in a horizontal position they at
once became upright and oscillated about their centre of gravity.
Anyone who has seen an Hawaiian shape a stone poi pounder with a simple
pebble as shown in the first volume of these Memoirs, page 375, and has also noted
the considerable variety of working or abrading stones shown in Plates XXXII-XXXV
of the same volume, will have less difl&culty in understanding how the native ^vorker
in wood could shape so truly and excavate so completely the bowls large and small we
FIG. 149. UMEKE OF KOU : NOS. 9199 AND 9215.
are now considering. Where we should saw, bore or chisel, he patiently abrades, first
with a rough stone, and certain varieties of the Hawaiian cellular basaltic lava had
great abrading power, then with stones of smoother grain until both the shape and
surface are to his satisfaction. Time is nothing to him ; seated in a cool, shady place
surrounded by his seleAed stones and with a huewai of water and an umeke of poi, his
workshop was complete. He would busily work until hungry, then a little poi and
some water to prevent, as Malo says, its sticking in his throat, and then another pull
at his umeke until he is weary and needs a rest, and so varying his occupation tie
easy going time at last brings an end to his particular work. So little does he like
the monotony of any one job that he generally has several on hand, pecking a little
[348]
Polishing the Umeke.
165
at this and polishing a little on that, that it is really a notable event when he has
finished anything. He then goes a fishing, or gives a hula to his friends.
While it is true that the outside is first finished, that does not mean that the
polish is complete, but only that the form is determined and a smooth surface that is
to be the final one before polishing, for froin this the artisan determines the extent to
which the interior is to be dug out. The interior was made beautifully smooth for
cleanliness in use rather than for appearance, and when this was satisfactory the
finer polish of the outside was taken in hand.
FIG. 150. UMEKE OF UNUSUAI, FORM: NOS. 475, 440 AND II43.
The order has been often stated in which the stones of various kinds were used,*
but there was no rule in practice that was generally followed : each man had his own
way of doing his work and it would vary with the wood he was polishing. Fine coral
(^pund)ypohaku eleku a rather soft, brittle stone, rough pumice or ^«^z ^«^/ (baked
pumice), olat^ oio and lau ulu or dried breadfruit leaves were all used in about this
succession on the finest work, although welu of kapa smeared with ochre often followed
or took the place of the breadfruit leaves. The patient application of whatever medium
was the secret of the beautiful finish of the best of the old umeke.
The ancient hand-made bowls are very uncommon now, although the turner
makes tolerable imitations and applies French polish in a way unknown to the old
natives, but which suits the taste of modem customers. It is seldom that one sees the
fine curves of the old bowls in these modern mechanical imitations, and the makers seem
to recognize their shortcomings when they put in patches and make cracks only to fill
them again and thus impart a flavor of antique art where the age and art are both wanting.
[349]
FIG. 151. UMEKE NOS. 537 AND 484.
FIG. 152. UMEKE NOS. 517, 538 AND 516.
Odd Shaped Umeke.
167
Only in large colleAions like those in the Bishop Museum can the choice work of the
ancient artisans be studied.
We may glance briefly at some unusual forms of umeke. In Fig. 150 are shown
two with the upper edge developed into three angles and a marked constriAion in
the waist, features that I am unable to explain. That it was not a mere freak of one
workman is shown by the number of examples in this Museum apparently not all
from the same hand, nor of the same age. They are well made, solid at the base, and
have a fine surface.
In Plate XL we have an umeke, not in the Museum colleAion, with cylindrical
sides and a flat bottom, the only one of this shape and size seen. While it seems
old, I am inclined to consider
it a modern example. The flat
bottoms were not peculiar, but
often occur in umeke of un-
doubted age as in Fig. 151,
Nos. 537 and 484. Also in
Fig. 152, No. 538. A partly
cylindrical body but with
curved upper and lower edges
is seen in No. 481, Fig. 143, and
also in No. 440 in Fig. 150.
In the umeke with decided
external angles, as No. 537,
Fig. i5i,and538,Fig. 152, the
inside ignores the angle and
is evenly curved. In the list given below to show the sizes of the principal umeke in
the Bishop Museum it will be seen that many of these, even some of large diameter
are comparatively flat, as No. 445.
I have classed with umeke the curious form shown in Fig. 153 which has four
lugs remarkably well carved and bored, evidently for the cords by which the bowl was
suspended, but why ? It was not large enough to hold enough poi for an adult's
meal, being only about six inches in diameter. It might have been a vase for the
sweet-smelling flowers the Hawaiian loved, to hang from the coconut leaf-covered
lanai under which a feast was held, but the inside is clean and not stained as would
be probable if used as suggested. My reader must find his own use for this choice
little vessel for I am unable to help him farther.
[351]
FIG. 153. UMEKE WITH LUGS FOR SUSPENSION.
i68
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Although all the umeke figured hitherto, except in Fig. 154, have been pre-
sented uncovered, a cover was a necessary addition when used as a receptacle for poi,
which was attractive to flies as well as natives, and a fly in the poi was as offensive as
the proverbial fly in the apothecary's ointment. However dirty the surroundings
might be, long, dirty finger nails, grimy hands, and even that rarer thing a dirty
FIG. 154. UMEKE WITH COVER: NO. 420.
bowl into which the dirty hands freely dipped to extract the sticky poi, the most fas-
tidious native could stomach these, but a Fly — we must get another umeke of poi!
We have noted that large flat gourds were often, indeed generally used for this pur-
pose, especially among the poorer class, the fine umeke usually had a cover made for
them as shown in Fig. 154, and this cover served at a meal for a dish or plate. Often
it is difficult to decide whether a round carved flat dish was such or primarily a cover
for an umeke. A lot of these round dishes or pa are shown in Fig. 155. They cannot
be considered distinctively Hawaiian as the form is found all over the world, and there
[352]
Hawaiian Pa or Dishes.
169
is hanging before me, as I write, a mahogany platter or dish that my Carib workman
carved for me, entirely without my suggestion, quite like the Hawaiian ones in the
figure, except for material. A convenient distinction to be noted in the pa made for
covers is the raised edge to hold the cover firmly on the umeke ; the smooth plate is
constantly liable to slip off.
We have not exhausted the old shapes, for there are containers between the
umeke poi and the flat pa, that must be noticed. The lute-shaped bowls shown in
Fig. 156 are rare and exceedingly well made. I do not know to what especial use
FIG. 155. HAWAIIAN PA OR DISHES.
they were devoted. There is one umeke of considerable age in this Museum of the
flat-bottom type, but of remarkably fine lines, Plate XL. Another class of umeke has
the horizontal surface cut in flat bands : this is curious rather than ornamental, and
the effect is shown in Fig. 161. Of the low umeke of great diameter I know of none
so beautiful as the one shown in Plate XL. The lines are fine and the workmanship
of high order; it was among the treasures of the Kamehameha family; and I wish the
name of the unknown artist who designed it could be engraved upon it.
Where the umeke pass into pa or dishes we have a strange form unlike other
Hawaiian dishes both in their general shape, which is elliptical, and in having legs.
These are shown in Fig. 157 and their shape is so suggestive of some of the Samoan
bowls that I have placed a small Samoan tahoa or awa bowl. No. 2150, upon the bot-
tom of the upturned Hawaiian dish. All the latter, however, lack the projecting
[353]
170
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
handle by which the tanoa could be hung up. These large dishes (the largest in the
figure is 40.5 inches long) were used for baked pig or dog; some have a depression
in the rim, not definite enough to be called a spout, by which the gravy could be
poured. Did the Samoan copy the Hawaiian form or was the Hawaiian the imitator?
It should be stated that the usual form of the Samoan tanoa was circular, and while
they usually had four legs, the number was often
greatly increased ; one in this Museum having a dozen
legs : the polypeds are mostly modern. The Hawaiian
awa bowls {^kanoa awa) were of very simple form,
sometimes hardly to be distinguished from the umeke.
Two of these are shown in Fig. 158. The dimensions
of the bowls with legs (Fig. 157) in the Bishop Museum
are as follows :
Museum No.
Diameter.
Height.
Depth Inside
1213
24,7X177 in.
6.6 in.
4 in.
1214
31 X24.5
8.5
5.3
1215
40.5X20.7
II-5
6.3'^
1216
32.2X19-6
7-5
5.3
FIG. 156. LUTE-SHAPED BOWLS.
Next may be noticed the unusual form shown in
Fig. 161, where the main bowl is divided into four com-
partments, and there is also an arm carrying a small
bowl with only two compartments, perhaps for salt
and inamona (relish). 'The main dish reminds one
of the vegetable dishes common in the English restaur-
ants made to contain several kinds of vegetable. The
old dish at the side has but one shallow cell on the
end projection evidently for salt.
IpU Holowaa. — Another of the specialized forms of food bowls is that known
as the ipti holowaa or canoe dish. As we find huewai of genuine ipu in elongated
shape convenient to stow away on the Hawaiian canoe (Fig. 120), so the food dishes
were sometimes of peculiar shape for the same accommodation. If we add to this the
whims of royalty it will be easy to understand the odd forms of umeke shown in
Fig. 159. The central umeke, No. 1355, is of fine form and in no way abnormal, but
the umeke holowaa on the right. No. 1356, is unlike any other in the Museum, and it
is said was used by the great Kamehameha for fish, as the previous one was for poi,
^* Queen Emma collection.
[354]
FIG. 157. LARGE HAWAIIAN DISHES.^
FIG. 158. KANOA AWA: AVVA BOWXS.
172
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
on his canoe voyages. No. 1357 on the other side, belongs to the set and has a curi-
ous formation on the handle which renders its use uncertain. The little spittoon,
No. 5009, was also a constant traveling companion of the Conqueror. The other tall
umeke (No. 5010) has an even more * curious history. It is made of two plates of
tortoise-shell {ed) fastened together by a narrow strip of the same material in an
ingenious and water-tight suture: the bottom is of wood to which the ea is firmly
attached. The form of the rim is quite like that of the large wooden umeke in Fig. 144,
whose unusual form has greatly puzzled the writer. We know. that this was Kameha-
meha's medicine bowl, and the legend attaches to it that it measured a dose ! Even
of sweet water it would be a generous one, for it holds a little more than three quarts ;
FIG. 159. UMEKE OF KAMEHAMEHA I.
but then the king was a mighty man. Does this suggest to us that the other umeke
were the utensils of the native kahuna lapaau or medicine men, and used in the pre-
paration of their remedies ? We know that the old Hawaiians possessed a consider-
able knowledge of the healing powers of herbs, and that it was by no means their
practice to administer insignificant doses. They seemed desirous of filling the patient
with their remedy through either end of the alimentary canal.
The use of ea in this way may have had connection with the strong superstition
that drugs were more virile if treated and used in bone cups or triturated with bone
pestles. Ea was also used in Hawaii for small dishes and large combs, and the natives
certainly understood the process of softening it by heat to mould it to such shapes as
they required. Here should be noted the modern turned umeke shown in Fig. 147
because they are used even now in Hawaiian feasts, and sometimes find their way into
collections of Hawaiian umeke as modern imitations of old forms. This they are not,
and the covers which are really inverted dishes with a raised rim to serve as handle
to cover or base to dish are apparently of Chinese motif.
[356]
FIG. l6o. DISHES WITH COMPARTMENTS.
FIG. l6l. UMEKE NO. IO5O.
\
FIG. 162. CARVED HAWAIIAN DISHES.
J
FIG. 163. MAORI DISH USED FOR CRUSHING HINAI BERRIES.
Canned Hawaiian Dishes.
175
Here should come the carved dishes, once the pride of the alii, but now scattered
through the museums of the world. Few indeed remain in their original home. Two
are in this Museum and are shown in Fig. 162. The small one, a sauce or gravy
dish, belonged to King Lunalilo, and was used during his reign as a card receiver.
The other also belonged to the Kamehameha family and was the property of Princess
Keelikolani. This is of sufficient size for roast dog or pig. The figures are Kahahana
FIG. 164. HAWAIIAN CARVED DISH IN LEIDEN MUSEUM.
and Kekuapoi his wife, who, it will be noticed both face in the same direction. The
mouth of each is greatly exaggerated to form convenient salt cellars. Now while bowls
with human supporters are by no means rare (there are several from New Zealand
with figures which might, by courtesy to the figures, be called human, in this Museum)
they in most cases both face in towards the bowl, or both face out. Here the figures
are facing in the same direction and some skill is shown in disposing of the legs of
the leading figure. Now among the Maori articles here is a dish or trough. Fig. 163,
No. 1532, where the same arrangement obtains: the leading figure here has the head
of a monster through whose open gullet and mouth the liquid contents of the dish
[359]
176
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
can be discharged : the other figure • has a human head, certainly of the blockhead
type. The Maori dish is rudely carved as may be seen in the illustration, and is not
very old, while the Hawaiian example is of great antiquity. Plate XXXV contains
most of the carved Hawaiian dishes in the European museums, and there will be seen
another bowl now in the British Museum where the same one direction motif \s used,
although the figures are both standing. In a similar dish in the Leiden Museum
both figures are attached to the base of the bowl and face outwards.
The common people had none of
these carved or fantastic dishes, but they
certainly had a more comfortable substi-
tute for these dishes of the alii. Very many
have survived from remote times, buried in
the caves where they perhaps held food for
the manes of their departed owners. I do
not mean to say that the upper classes did
not have the very convenient dishes I am
about to describe, for they certainly had all
worth having that the makaainana pos-
sessed, but many of the specimens shown
in Fig. 166 are of such rude art that they
mark very early time or very humble
owners. Some are not very different from
the rudely hewn troughs used in both New
and old England for feeding sheep, or a
better illustration still the log troughs so
common in maple sugar camps. Some are
square at both ends, others rounded at both
ends, and others still, square at one end
and rounded at the other. Almost all have
some handle or hole fitted with string by which they may be hung up out of the way.
They were used for fish or baked meat, and the central one in Fig. 165 is almost long
enough for the great eels of the Hawaiian waters: 44.5 inches long and 14 wide.
FIG. 165. LONG PLATTERS FROM THE
DEVERILL COLLECTION.
Before taking up the next articles of house furniture, the finger-bowls, slop
basins and spittoons, we will insert a tabular view of the umeke, and allied utensils
showing their material and size, and to some extent, their shape, for the Bishop
Museum colleAion is so large, authentic, and varied that it fairly represents the best
[360]
1
FIG. l66. LONG PLATTERS.
FIG. 167. BROAD PLATTERS.
Memoiks B. p. B. Museum. Vol. II, No. 3.— 12.
178
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
of such material among the old Hawaiians. I am the more ready to do this because
I found that a similar, though far less complete, list given in the first Museum catalogue
now long out of print was found useful to a degree not anticipated. The measure-
ments have been taken anew by the Curator of Polynesian Ethnology, Mr. J. F. G.
Stokes, whose careful work may be relied upon. The reader not fond of statistics
can easily skip the tables.
FIG. l68. OUTI.INE FORMS OF TYPICAL UMEKE.
In the following table are given first the Museum number, then the material
and any notes, the height, diameter and form : the latter designated by letter whose
counterpart is given on the outline diagrams of the typical Hawaiian forms. Fig. i68.
When the material is not given koti is to be understood.
UMEKE IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM.
409 Kou, old.
19-5
29.1
A
422
Coconut wood.
11.7
18.7
A
410 Queen Emma col-
•
423
11.6
18.4
A
lection. Fig. 138.
13-3
26.7
B
424
6.9
17.2
411 Q. E. Fig. 137.
II. 2
26.3
425
Q. E. Old.
137
17
A
412
20.3
23-5
A
426
12.3
16.8
B
413
I5-I
23.1
A
427
With cover.
8.2
16.5
B
414 Belonged to Abner
428
Turned.
5-2
154
K
Paki
9-5
24
B
429
10.8
154
A
415 Kamani, with cover.
10.7
22.6
B
430
7.8
I5-I
B
416 Fig. 136.
9.8
22.4
B
431
5-9
15
B
417
17-3
22
A
432
5-9
14.8
K
418 Q. E. Flat bottom.
433
Turned. Fig. 146.
5
14-5
Plate XL
6.4
22.1
434
Q.E.
5-3
14.6
K
419
10. 1
21.4
K
435
Old.
6.9
14-3
K
420 With cover, Fig. 154
14-3
19.2
A
436
Kamani, turned.
4-7
134
K
421
7-5
18.8
K
437
Q.E.
12.3
12.9
A
[362]
List of Umeke in the Bishop Museum.
179
438 Turned.
6
12.9
K
476 Q. E.
7.6
10. 1
A
439
7.7
11.8
C
477
Q.E.
6.6
7.4
A
440 Q. E. Old, opaka.
478
6
7.6
C
Fig. 150
9-7
10.6
479
Plate XXXIX
, I.
5-1
7.1
C
441 Kau, Hawaii.
5-7
15.6
B
480
(t tt
,5.
5.9
7-4
c
442
8
14-8
K
481
Decahedral. Fig. 143
. 5-4
7-9
443
6.2
16
E
482
Plate XXXIX
, 3-
7
7-7
D
444
5-8
14-3
K
483
Old, unpolished.
4.9
7.5
B
445 QE.
4-3
13-4
E
484
Fig. 151.
4.3
8.1
446 Q. E.
3-7
14.1
E
485
Kanupa cave.
6.2
7.9
B
447 With cover.
4.9
12.9
K
486
Old, rough.
6.8
7-1
448 Old, unpolished.
6
13.3
K
487
« tt
4.8
1 1.4
E
449 "
7
12.6
K
488
Hexahedral.
Fig.
450 "
451 «
7.8
4-7
18.3
11.7
B
T/IT
4-3
4.1
9.1
9.3
K
489
■"f-
E
452 "
4.2
11.7
E
490
With base, turned.
4.2
9.4
E
453 "
10
10.9
A
491
3-3
10.8
E
454 Ohia wood, Puna-
492
3-3
II
E
luu, Kau
8.7
9.6
A
493
Rough.
3.8
10.4
B
455 Old, unpolished.
4.1
10
K
494
2.7
10.8
E
456 Turned.
4.2
12.2
K
495
Grooved.
4
9.8
B
457 "
3-2
II. 2
E
496
Turned with
base.
4
9.6
E
458 "
4
II
E
497
3-7
7.2
A
459 "
5
II
B
498
Turned.
3
8
E
460
4.8
II. I
K
499
4
8.1
H
461 Melia azederach.
5
11.9
K
501
4.1
1-1
H
462 Fig. 141.
6.5
10
502
4-3
8
K
463 Eleven-sided.
4-5
9-7
B
503
3-4
8.3
K
464
3-8
9-7
E
505
Monkey-pod.
3-3
8.4
K
465 Plate XXXIX, 4.
6.7
8.7
A
506
3-1
8.2
K
466
3-5
10.5
E
507
4.2
8.7
H
467 Turned.
3
10.8
D
508
Turned with
base.
3-1
8.9
K
468
3-2
9-7
B
509
4.2
6.4
K
469 Old, decahedral.
510
3-1
7
K
Fig. 143
3-4
9.1
511
2.8
7-5
K
470 Unpolished.
6.7
9-7
A
512
Turned.
3-2
6.2
A
471
7-3
9-3
A
513
3.6
6
C
472 Unfinished.
7.2
9
C
515
Q.E.
3-6
6.1
K
473 Ohia wood. Burial
516
Flat bottom.
Fig.
cave
7
6.7
7.6
8
T C2
4-5
5
5.9
5-1
474 Kanupa cave.
A
517
Fig. 152.
475 Q.E. Old. Fig. 150.
11.7
12.6
D
518
3.4
6.2
B
[363I
•
i8o
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
519 Flat bottom.
2.8
6.5
H
560
3
9-5
H
520 Turned with base.
3
6.9
B
561
3-2
9.8
H
521 Turned.
2.2
7
K
562
2.2
9.2
H
522 Turned.
2.2
7
E
563
Fig. 147.
2.8
9-5
523 Decahedral.
Fig.
564
2.6
8.2
H
TylT
2-3
2
7-3
7
565
566
Kamani.
2.9
2.5
9.1
7.6
H
524 Turned. Fig.
147.
Fig. 147-
H
525
2.1
7-9
K
567
2.8
6.9
H
526 Turned.
1.6
7
E
568
^
2.9
7.2
H
527 "
2.4
7-1
E
569
2.8
7.2
H
528
2.1
7
K
570
3
77
H
529 Q. E. Turned
2.7
7-1
E
571
3
7
H
530
2.2
6.5
E
572
2.5
7.2
H
531
2.2
5.6
B
573
2.9
7-1
H
532
2.8
5.8
B
574
27
7-1
H
533
2.4
5-6
E
575
2.6
6.1
H
534
2.6
5-2
B
576
2.6
6.2
H
535
2.2
5-5
K
577
2.6
6.2
H
536
1-7
5-9
B
578
2.8
6.3
H
537 Fig- 151-
■ 3-2
5-9
H
579
2.4
6.3
H
538 Fig-. 152.
4-3
6.4
580 Fig. 147.
27
6.3
H
539 Q- E. Monkey-pod.
2.7
7-1
B
581
2.3
6.3
H
541 Q. E.
4.2
5
C
582
2.6
7-3
H
542 Burial cave.
5
8
B
583
1.8
7
K
543 Kanupa cave.
37
8.1
K
584
2.9
8.2
544
4.7
9.6
K
585
2.2
9.2
H
545 Burial cave.
4
10
E
586
2.9
7.2
H
546 " "
4.6
9
K
587
3
7.2
H
547 " , " ,
4-5
8.7
B
588
3
7-3
H
548 Hemispherical.
4.1
9.1
H
589 Fig- 147-
2.5
7-1
549
2-5
7-9
B
590
3
7-1
H
550 Hemispherical.
2.7
8.5
B
591
Fig. 147.
3
7-3
55 1 Hemispherical.
Bur-
592
Goblet shape, like
ial cave
2.4
4-3
9
1.6
B
Fig. 139
Goblet shape, like
5-4
4.9
552 Q. E.
E
593
553 Ohia, rough, thick.
3-5
II
Fig. 139
3-5
5-3
554 Honuapo.
4.2
II. I
594
Kamani. Goblet
555 Kanoa awa.
4.2
13-3
B
shape
7
7
556 " "
4-7
137
H
595
Goblet shape.
6.1
6.7
557 " " Fig.
146.
4.8
15.8
596
(( ((
57
6.8
558 " "
5-2
15-3
H
597
(( «
6
7-3
559 " "
4
10
H
598
t( ((
5-3
8.2
[364]
List of Unieke in the Bishop Museum.
i8i
599 Goblet shape.
600
((
((
601
((
((
602
((
((
((
603 "
604 Monkey-pod. Gob-
let shape
605 Monkey-pod. Gob-
let shape
606 Monkey-pod.
607
608
609 Goblet.
1049 Fir- 144.
io5iP Fig. 161.
105 1 Nenelaau.
1052 Turned.
1053 Kamani.
1054
1055
1092
1143 Fig. 150.
1355 Kamehameha I.
Fig- 159
2290
2291 Fig. 145.
2292
3898 Koaia.
4004
4005 Unfinished.
4006
4299
4678 With four lugs.
Fig; 153
4742 Unfinished.
4743
4744 "
5010 Ea (tortoise shell).
Fig- 159
5028
5595 Unfinished.
5596
5
7-4
5597
3
12.5
4.6
7-5
5599
Koa or ohia.
8
7
4.6
7.2
6003
Fig- 139-
6.4
12
4-3
7-5
6004 Fig. 139.
6.7
1 1.4
4.6
7-3
6818
3-7
6.7
K
6845
4
8.3
H
4.6
6.2
7669
5
II. I
E
7868
6.2
12.3
K
4.6
6.1
7869
6
II. 2
B
5
5
7870
8.1
14
B
5
5
8126
Monkey-pod.
4-7
II-3
E
4-3
5-6
8127
4.2
10. 1
K
2.2
5-5
8128
5-3
9.8
B
14.2
23.8
8571
Unfinished.
I5-I
18.4
A
18.1
21.2
8636
7.8
18.8
K
4.4
137
8637
9-3
17
B
4-5
14
H
8638
9-3
14.9
A
4
II. 2
K
8639
8
12.6
B
3.8
10. 1
B
8640
7-2
12
B
4.4
10. 1
B
8641
6.9
14
K
8
8.5
8642
6
14-5
K
14.6
1 1.8
8644
8645
Milo.
7.2
6.5
10.2
10
9.6
9.4
A
8646
4.6
- 9
K
8
17
K
8647
Milo, turned.
6.2
7-3
8.3
17.8
8648 Monkey-pod, turned
• 4
7
7.2
14.8
B
8649
K it
3
7-1
E
3-2
9-5
E
8650
Milo, turned.
4.5
4-5
5-5
7-3
C
8651
3-1
6.8
H
5-2
9.4
B
8652
Milo.
8.7
13-2
A
6.1
12
K
8654
Turned.
6.8
8.6
A
5-1
11.6
E
8655
8656
4-3
4.2-
10.5
9.8
4-7
6.5
8657
3
9
6.7
12.9
B
8658
5-8
12.3
K
3-2
12.2
E
8659
5
9.8
B
4.4
10.8
8660
Monkey-pod, turned
• 5-1
II
B
8661
2-3
7-2
H
7.2
7
D
8662
2-3
7-2
H
3-5
5
A
8663
5-2
8-7
A
3.8
9-4
8664
Monkey-pod.
8.6
16.4
K
5-3
10.2
H
9192
5-1
8.2
H
[365!
1 82 The Ancient Hawaiian House,
9193
3.5
10.4
E
9207
47
13.2
E
9194
3
1 1.8
E
9208
4-5-
II. I
B
9195
3-8
8.2
B
9209
8.1
8.9
A
9196
6.3
137
K
9210
5
10.5
B
9197
4-5
10.7
H
9211
6.8
14.7
E
9198
2.5
57
E
9212
4.9
13-3
E
9199 Fig. 149.
44
6.7
9213
6.1
13-3
K
9200
6.1
11.7
B
9214
5
12. 1
E
9201
5-2
6.3
H
9215
Fig.
149.
5.8
6.4
9202
6.1
11.7
B
9216
6
9.2
A
9203
4.2
6.9
B
9530
Plate XXXVIII.
8
20.8
B
9204
8.7
131
A
10,081
Hemispherical.
4-3
137
9205
6.1
12.2
K
10,083
9
16
B
9206 Goblet shape. 5 7.5
Finger Bowls : IpU Holoi I/ima. — An article of elegance doubtless confined
to the Hawaiian aristocracy, — the Alii, were the finger bowls so comfortable to the
guest at a meal of greasy dog or pig, where fingers were the only forks, and not
less where the food was sticky poi. It was usual after eating the meat to dip the
fingers into the poi umeke and finish with the ipu holoi lima. In
many cases the hands were also washed before meals, but this
was not the case with the common people, who were, according to
the missionaries who first had to suffer from their filth, dirty in
^- ^ PIG. 169.
the extreme.
These bowls were of most varied forms as may be seen by Fig. 170 and Plate
XXX, but may be divided into two general classes : one where the bowl has a single
compartment for water ; the other where the struAure is more complicated and pro-
vides not only for water but also for leaves to serve as napkins. Of the latter class,
the more uncommon one, are the three bowls in the lower half of the figure. The one
at the left has one compartment for water, one for the unused leaves, and another to
receive the used leaves ; the one on the right has two places for water and two for
leaves, while the one in the middle has one bowl for each. All three are each carved from
a single piece of wood and are well finished as befits royal use. Many examples of the
other and more popular class are seen in the plate and in the upper row of the figure.
One of the most curious is shown in Fig. 169, a sketch of one in the Berlin
Museum fiir Volkerkunde. Almost as bizarre are the two in the centre of the plate.
In most cases there is in the interior of the bowl a ridge or projection to remove the
poi from between the fingers; in one. No. 610 in the Bishop Museum, this projection
[366]
FIG. 170. IPU HOLOI LIMA OR FINGER BOWLS.
FIG. 171. FINGER BOWL WITH GRIT HOLDER.
i84
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
is worn to a slender rod by long use (see the upper right hand corner specimen in Plate
XXX); in No. 620 of the figure there are two of the ridges, the only specimen we
have with this peculiarity. In the colledlion of the Hon. S. M. Damon, at Moanalua,
is a finger bowl with the handle hollowed to hold sand or grit as a substitute for soap,
an unique form so far as known (Fig. 171). Certainly the old Hawaiians of the upper
class had attained some civilization before the coming of the missionaries !
FIG. 172. IPU AINA OR SLOP BASINS.
Na IpU Aina=Slop Basins. — An article used almost exclusively by the
chiefs at their feasts to receive the refuse of their food, as fish-bones, banana skins, etc.
They were thick and heavy (No. 638 weighs seven pounds) and not infrequently inlaid
with the bones or the teeth of an enemy, — sometimes of many enemies, as in No. 6927
(Plate XXXI), where no less than 289 molar teeth are inserted in a bowl cut from a log
of hard pine drifted to these islands from the Columbia River region. In No. 9069
many teeth are inserted and ground to show a cross section ; in some of these teeth the
exposed nerve cavity was so large as to require a filling, for which a splinter of another
tooth was used. In No. 4144 bones were used as well as teeth and very neatly inserted.
[368]
Bowls With Human Relics. 185
This use of human bone for decoration has before been referred to, and it need
only be repeated here that while it was deemed honorable to- have one's bones in a
kahili handle, in umeke, and sacred drums, it was regarded as a gross insult to the
dead enemy whose solid parts were attached to spittoons or slop basins, or other
"vessels of dishonor". This Museum is fortunate in having a considerable number
of these fantastic mementos of perished enemies. See Plate XXXI. In some cases,
as No. 9290 in the illustration, the vessel was used in sorcery and then styled Umeke poe
uhane. The fragment shown in the plate was from the Deverill colledlion, and the
other half is supposed to be in Kohala, Hawaii.
The following list includes also the plain slop basins : they are, with the one
exception mentioned, of kou wood :
Diameter. Height.
630 This plain bowl is possibly an ipu holoi lima 12.5 5.5
634 Keelikolani colledlion, narrow base 11.5 5.7
635 Old and mended long ago 13.2 7.7
636 From Queen Emma's colledlion 10 5
637 Hawaiian Government; one tooth and an empty socket 9.2 4.2
639 Queen Emma colledlion 12.5 7
6927 Pine from Northwest Coast; weighs 7 lbs 12 6
4144 Bones and teeth ; Queen Emma colleAion 9 4.5
9069 Cave on Hawaii ; 63 teeth lo.i 5.6
9290 Deverill colledlion; fragment of umeke poe uhane 11.5 7
Ipu Kuha: Spittoons. — Not an agreeable adjunct to the house furniture,
and yet, so far as it went, a sanitary measure that was not often found among uncivil-
ized people. Among the Hawaiians there was a deep-rooted belief (and three genera-
tions of Christian civilization have not much Weakened the belief) that the kahunas
or priests had a power over the lives of men which was brought into action by
the pule anaana or praying to death, and that not by the mere length of the prayer.
This power was not confined to the priests in later days, and pthers might possess this
sort of "evil eye", but in all cases to exercise it a portion of the intended victim must
be prayed over by the sorcerer. I do not care to go into this most interesting subject
here, for I shall treat it at length in another work, but in short there were persons
well known to have this power in greater or less degree, and they were quite ready to
exercise it for pay. The person desiring the death of an enemy secured a lock of his
hair, the parings of his finger nails or his spittle: the last perhaps most easy to obtain
under ordinary circumstances without exciting suspicion : hence the existence of ipu
kuha. The higher the position of a man the more enemies he was likely to have, and
[369]
i86
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
the spittoon bearer of a chief was his most trusted attendant who received and guarded
the contributions of the day, and at night washed the receptacle in the ocean if possi-
ble, if not, he carefully buried the accumulated saliva.
I have seen these ipu kuha brought into church a generation ago, and they are
common enough in museums. All sorts of odd forms were chosen and the handle is
often unsymmetrically placed, but is always an integral part of the block of wood from
which the cup was carved. Plate XXXII shows the more important examples in the
Bishop Museum. The commoners did not take such pains, as they had fewer enemies
and less means to secure the services of a strong kahuna, one "powerful in prayer", and
to the present day they are by no means so careful as they should be where they spit.
We have no spittoons from other groups, nor do I know of their existence outside the
Hawaiian group, among the Polynesians.
With Plate XXXII the following list of the principal ipu kuha and the allied
ipu mimi in this Museum will give some idea of their shape and size:
IPU KUHA IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM.
678
679
680
681
682
.683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
Mug shape, ring handle.
Mug shape, ring handle.
Broad, flat edge.
Ring handle.
Very broad edge, hook handle,
it (( (( (( ((
Broad edge, hook handle.
U (( (( ((
Flat handle.
Flat handle.
Hook handle.
Sharp edge, impractical
handle
Mug shape, hook handle.
Mug shape, flat handle.
Cup with hook handle.
Mug shape, hook handle.
Mug shape, flat handle.
Diameter.
8.5
8.5
7
6.7
7-5
7
8
8.7
. 8.5
7.2
8.2
8
6.5
6.2
6
6.5
7
6
5-2
6
5-5
47
4-5
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
3999
4000
4001
4002
7515
7564
7684
8089
4003
4143
9222
5009
Diameter.
Oval, Queen Emma coll. 5X4.6
Ribbon handle. 5
Oval, ring handle. 7-5X5.7
Oval, ring handle. 7.2X4
Square, ring handle.
Square, hook handle, Q. E
Very old, ring handle.
Burial cave, ring handle.
Mug shape, hook handle, old
" *' burial cave.
Govt, coll., broken handle.
Hook handle.
Mug, flat handle.
Mug, hook handle.
Hook handle.
Oval.
Convex bottom, with
teeth and i socket . . .
Deverill coll., hook handle
Kamehameha's private, flat
handle 4.3
5-5
5
5-5
6.2
6.7
7
5-5
5
7-7
7-5
5
5.7
6.2
9-5X7.5
17
• • • 6.3
6.7
[370]
Hawaiian Mirrors. 187
IpU Mimi. — When the spittoon was of larger size, but of the same general
form as the ipu kuha it received the; discharges from the distal end of the alimentary
canal or from the bladder, and being made of so porous a substance as wood, it
was important to cleanse it thoroughly and to expose it to the full sunlight: this
custom has been faithfully continued with the crockery successor to the wooden
ipu mimi, as may be noticed by the traveler at almost any native house in the
country. Specimens of these vessels are shown in Plate XXXII, at the bottom.
Fortunajtely most of these necessary but unpleasant containers were destroyed on
the advent of the cheaper foreign crockery pots, and specimens are rarely if ever
found in museums.
I do not believe this to have been an ancient implement, nor was it used by the
common people, who were very careless about the natural excretions of the body: their
hale kiona = privy J I do not believe existed before the contact with white men, and the
term was probably made up to use in the translation of the Scriptures, /^io means
excrement and kiona the fundament.^^
IPU MIMI IN THE BISHOP MUSEUM.
Diameter.
Height.
Diameter.
Height.
675 Kou, hook handle.
12
3-5
3997
Ring handle.
9.2
6
676 Hook handle.
9-5
3-5
3998
Hook handle.
8
3-7
677 «
10
3-5
3999
Broken handle.
7
4
678 Ring handle.
8.7
4
3214
Hook handle.
9-5
2.6
679 "
8.5
5
Mirrors. — I have elsewhere^^ described the Hawaiian stone mirrors {kilo pohaku)
as one of the most ingenious of savage contrivances. Malo mentions also a wooden
mirror, but I have never seen one nor do I know of any that have survived in museums.
With the importation of the far mofe efficient coated-glass mirror these native reflec-
tors soon vanished ; the wooden ones utterly, while those of stone were used as a cooling
application to furunculi or other inflamed portions of the body, — they became pohaku
lapaau in the armamentarium chirugicum of the Hawaiian kahuna lapaau or medicine
man, and then usually had a small hole drilled near the outer edge for a suspending
cord. These mirrors of stone disks, and doubtless the wooden ones likewise, had no
refleAing surface when dry, and were not used, as Malo states, by merely wetting the
''In the early sixties I heard in the Haili church at Hilo a capital sermon in Hawaiian the text being from
Deut. 23, 13. It was brought home to the simple Ilawaiians by the suggestion * 'Consider poor pussy", and from my
observations at that time, I do not doubt the congregation needed the practical sermon of the excellent missionary.
''Stone Implements and Stone Work of the Ancient Hawaiians. Memoirs of the Museum, vol. i, p. 398.
[371]
i88
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
surface, but were wholly immersed in a shallow dish of water, when, as may be seen
by the experiment, a fair reflexion appears when the stone is in shadow and the face
well lighted.
We have specimens (Fig. 173) of the native mounting of the foreign mirrors
that Vancouver (and perhaps Cook) brought to these islands. Mere strips of looking-
glass framed neatly enough in wood with a handle carved on one of the long sides of
the frame. In the British Museum is a curious example of tjiese frames, shown in
the sketch (Fig. 174). On the bottom of the frame are carved two miniature tobacco
pipes, while on the upper side
is a tube nearly a third of the
length, through which a cord
was passed. The larger one
in the Bishop Museum (Fig.
173) was given to Kameha-
meha by Vancouver and has
doubtless refle<5led the faces of
all the Hawaiian courtiers of
that stirring era which wit-
nessed the culmination of
Hawaiian character. All
these frames were carved in
one piece; the glass was
cemented in by a rather poor
putty of red ochre. Very small specimens were attached to the handkerchiefs (equally
foreign) of the female Alii, a parallel to the former French fashion of inserting a tiny
mirror in eventails. It is not likely that this adaptation of the foreign looking-glass
extended beyond the few examples used by the high chiefs, for
after Vancouver's visit commerce soon brought the cheap and
more convenient forms. The ancient indigenous forms must
always have remained a luxury for the wealthy Hawaiians, and
specimens are rare in museums.
Only those who have moved from a house in which they
FIG. 174. HAWAIIAN MIRROR -^ -^
IN BRITISH MUSEUM. havc loug residcd can appreciate the many little conveniences
that accumulate and have been forgotten in our complicated and artificial life. To a
less degree, of course, but none the less surely there will be found many forgotten
things necessary to the simple life of the old Hawaiian, but which are never colledled
and so do not appear in museums. If we could have the sweepings of the old Hawaiian
[372]
FIG. 173. HAWAIIAN MIRRORS, END OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Things Perhaps Forgotten. 189
houses, so to speak, the things thrown away by their owners as unfashionable or super-
seded by some better invention, we should gain footnotes that would perhaps be worth
more than all the text ! The things that turn up in kitchen middens were refuse once
but now are oracles of history, truer, if carefully read, than most that is called history.
Idle is it to lament over things we may have lost, when we shall doubtless omit
to mention some of the things known to others as well as to ourselves but forgotten
in the gathering of the household utensils old and new, that should find place in an
old Hawaiian house of the better sort. Even when we plead guilty of passing by the
stone implements, the feather-work treasures, the baskets and mats, on the plea that
we have told all we know about them before, and again speak slightly about tools for
kapa making which were most important things about the house; about the weapons
that from the earliest times must have been the title deeds to the ownership of the
house itself ; of the games of which the implements were not only in the house but
often so dear to the residents that they were placed together with the choicest posses-
sions in the burial cave where the bones of the departed were hidden : because all these
things are so important in themselves that they must be treated more fully by them-
selves than they properly could as mere furniture to a house. Whatever excuse may
be brought forward, there are other things that come under none of these heads and
should in any liberal plan be described with other furniture, but which may be for-
gotten, that it behooves us to search carefully for what may have been overlooked.
Fibres played so large a part in the economy of Hawaiian life that doubtless in
most houses we should find the scrapers shown in Fig. 175, those on the left made of
the pearly and hard shell of a bivalve (67// kahiolona papaua)^ and the rest, the far
more common ones, made from the bones of the carapace of the large turtle common
in these waters ( Uhi kahiolona kuahonu). These were used not only to clean the fibres
of the olona, but also to remove the outer bark in kapa making, and even as the
strigil oi the ancients to scrape the human body. Used in so many ways they were
doubtless common in and about the houses. With the scrapers went the Laau
hahi olona^ a strip of wood six to eight feet long and three to five inches wide, with one
surface slightly convex and smooth. Like the scrapers these laau were used for other
fibre than olond, as waoke, ma'maki, etc., so there was generally one of these stuck in
the thatch somewhere about the house. The method of using is shown in Plate XV of
this volume, representing a native scraping olond for spinning net cord.
While a fisherman would doubtless have many of the implements of his calling
in and about his house, such as fishing sticks, traps, nets, hooks, etc., many of the Alii
were also fishermen (^.^., the Kamehameha family) and kept their choicer imple-
ments in their dwellings, especially ipu leH (Fig. 176), a container of fish hooks or
[373]
190 The Ancient Hawaiian House.
hooks and line also ; the smaller part was an umeke of wood and the cover, much larger,
of gourd : some choice ones were all of gourd and of small size. The common fishing
line container was a bottle gourd with a large neck capped with a small coconut shell.
(Plate XXXIII.) In these the fine olond lines were so carefully kept that it is no
wonder that one would last several generations of fishermen.
The Alii had their canoes which were kept in the halau or canoe-house, but the
paddles were often a part of the house furniture, not infrequently forming decorative
devices with the spears which belonged to every chief. The common people often
FIG. 175 uHi kahiolona: scrapers.
made an old canoe a part of the house itself in placing it close to the side towards the
wind, the inner gunwale just under the thatch so that the drip of the rain would
flow in.^^ It must be noted that some of the inland villages were apparently poorly
supplied with water, as the houses on the slopes above Mahukona, Hawaii, and we
know that in some cases the people brought water from springs far up the mountain.
Portlock and Dixon when anchored off Waikiki in 1786 watered their ships by carriers
with gourd containers filled at the upper streams (Manoa, Makiki) . Captain Dixon says:
Early in the morning of the 2d [June, 1786] our Captains went on shore in order to find a
watering place, and procure accommodations for the sick : they soon met with good water, but the
access to it was very difficult, occasioned by a reef of rocks which run almost the length of the bay,
^9 To within a few years there existed at the side of the little bath-house over a steam crack near the Volcano
House at Kilauea an old canoe used to catch the drip from the roof during the frequent rains. It had before that
served to collect rain water at some one of the native houses formerly in the vicinity of the crater.
[374]
Portlock and Dixon Watering.
191
at a considerable distance from the shore, and so high that it was scarcely practicable, and by no
means safe for a loaded boat to venture over: this circumstance made us despair of filling our water
at this island ; but Captain Dixon taking notice that most of the people in the canoes had several
gourds or calabashes full of water, he directed us to purchase them, which we easily did for nails,
buttons and such like trifles : indeed so fond were they of this traflSc, that every other object was
totally abandoned, and the whole Island, at least that part of it which lay next us, were employed in
bringing water: for a small or a middling sized calabash, containing two or three gallons, we gave
a small nail ; and for larger ones in proportion. Thus in this very singular, and I may venture to
say, unprecidented manner, were both ships compleatly supplied with water, not only at a trivial
expence, but also saving our boats, casks, and tackling, and preserving the people from wet, and the
danger of catching cold.^
FIG. 176. IPU LE'l FOR FISH HOOKS AND LINES.
In Puna, where springs are scarce and streams unknown, large ipu are placed
in lava caves to catch the drip through the porous lava roof. This was common prac-
tice all through the lava region and many a thirsty traveler has quenched his thirst
at such reservoirs.
Rats and mice troubled the ancient as they do riiodern dwellers on these islands.
Menzies and his party from Vancouver's ships, who ascended Hualalai on Hawaii,
were greatly annoyed by these rodents in the hut where they passed a night in the
mountain region. To reduce the number the Hawaiian used a small bow and very
light arrow, such as shown in Fig. 177. How early they invented the bow and arrow
we do not know, but they do not seem to have made great use of this weapon in war.
■° A Voyage round the World ; but more particularly to the North-west coast of America; performed in 1785,
1786, 1787, and 1788 in the King George and Queen Charlotte, Captains Portlock and Dixon. By Captain George
pigeon. London, 1789. p. 52.
[375I
192
The Ancient Hawaiian House.
Probably its use was confined to "rats and mice and such small deer", but it was prob-
ably to be found in most respectable houses.
Kahili = Brooms. — Another necessary thing in every house, whether^ the hut
of the makaainana or the large house of the Alii, was a kahili or broom, which is also
shown in the same figure. This was in no way like the splendid ornament of feathers
which bears the same name and has been described and figured in the first volume of
these Memoirs, but was simple in the extreme, and its simplicity doubtless suggested
its use wherever the coco palm grows. A handful of the dried midribs of the leaflets
FIG. 177. HAWAIIAN BOW AND ARROW AND BROOM.
of the coco palm leaf, either held loosely or tied together at the base (as was most
common in Micronesia), made a practical broom convenient enough when the user
could squat as the Pacific islanders do, the kahili being held almost horizontally.
An old woman sweeping a garden path in this way always attracted the attention of a
stranger. The remaining object in the figure is a small wooden hook to be fastened
to the aho within the house : on this the koko holding umeke or huewai could be sus-
pended, or indeed anything else hung up out of the way.
Noho or Stool. — Although the Hawaiians used neither stools nor chairs for rest-
ing but preferred the matted floor where they could recline at ease,^' the chiefs on occasions
of ceremony sat on low stools. These were carved from a single block {ntonoxylon) and
■'I have seen an aged Hawaiian woman, evidently very luicomfortable on her pew seat at church, graduaUy
slide down to the floor where her satisfied look proclaimed her greater comfort.
L376]
Hawaiian Stools.
193
were perhaps borrowed from Tahiti or other southern islands whither the adventurous
Hawaiians are known to have sailed in ancient times. One of these Hawaiian stools
is shown in Fig. 8 (which is repeated here for convenience of reference). It is on the
right, a well cut but unornamented block of ohia wood ; heavy and solid, it resembles
a Samoan tanoa unexcavated. It is 18.7 X 17.2 inches on top and 9 inches high. On
the left of the figure is an ancient stool once the property of a chief of Anaa in the
Paumotu Archipelago; on the top of the first is a stool from the Marquesas used by
the copra graters as indicated by the proje<5lion (which is an integral part of the stool),
armed with a piece of rough coral for grating. Many of the European and American
f^
« •
FIG. 178. POLYNESIAN STOOLS.
museums have Tahitian stools of light and graceful form, but the pattern is in all
cases the same, and all are, I believe, monoxylon. The Hawaiian stools are very rare
and the present specimen (B. M. 4345) is the only one I have seen. A more fantastic
stool is in the British Museum; it represents a female figure, not unlike those figured
in the second Memoir of this volume ; she is on all fours, the head raised and the legs
trailing. This is shown on Plate XXXV (d).
Omitting the last carved example, all the stools from the Polynesian groups
are of one general patterp, and enough alike to suggest a common origin. The curved
seat reminds one of the Central American metate or grinding stones, beautifully carved
examples of which have been figured by Dr. Hartmann from Porto Rico. Some of
these are light enough to be a petrifadlion of the best Polynesian forms, except that
Mbmoius B. p. B. Museum. Vol. II. No. 3.— 13. L3 77 J
194 7%^ Ancient Hawaiian House.
they have generally three instead of four legs; four legs, however, sometimes occur
on the American metate.
As we leave the Hawaiian house after taking an inventory of its contents, we
shall probably see what we did not notice on entering, a rectangular flat stone lying
so low on the stone kahua that one may be pardoned for thinking it a part of the house
foundation, but a closer examination shows that its surface is marked with shallow
pits in regular order and of considerable number. This is the papamu^ a sort of
checker board on which the game of konane was played, a game popular from ancient
times all over the group, but especially on Hawaii, and it was common enough forty
years ago to see two natives sitting on the stone platform near the house door intently
playing this interesting game which somewhat resembled the Japanese game of
gobang. The late King Kalakaua and his Queen Kapiolani were experts at konane,
and it is well known that the goddess Pele did not refuse to pla}' the game with the
demigod Kamapuaa.
We have now filled the phantom house of the perished past with so much furni-
ture that even the long house of the New Guinea Papuans would hardly contain it all,
but surdy any reader who has come with me thus far should be able to select such
things as are needful for a primitive family even of an Alii. Unfortunately it is far
easier to assemble the utensils than to call back the forms that once made and used
them! The makaainana certainly lived a sordid life, without possessions, almost
without rights, their gods less merciful, if possible, than their human masters the Alii,
and yet they were never a gloomy or despairing people. Hard work they had, but
many a game, and even the sports that none but the chiefs might take an active part
in, they could and did enjoy as spectators. They were like children, and if their joyous
moments were short in our view, their sorrows were equally short-lived, and the people
who had a large-hearted chief had much reason to enjoy life and little to complain of.
With the Alii life must have been strenuous at times, for we know that war
and devastating war was the rule for long periods before the conquest of the petty
kingdoms into which the group and even the different islands were divided. There
are those that claim that bloodshed developes the powers of a nation, and they point
to the undoubted fact that the Hawaiians reached their highest development as a
people after a long series of bloody wars, and that since peace has been established
over the group, and one form and another of the Christian religion impressed upon
the people, the chiefs, whose occupation seemed to have been taken from them, have
disappeared wholly from the earth, and their people has ceased to be a nation and is
fast following the chiefs.
[378]
PLATES.
PLATE XVIII.
A view of Pagopago Harbor, near the entrance, with typical Samoan house.
The photograph was taken many years ago by Jos. Martin of Auckland. The
present village is situated beyond the field of this view.
Mp.moirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
Pi ATK XVlIf.
PLATE XIX.
The King's house at Mbau, Fiji. Modern influences are shown in the win-
dows on each side of the door ; also in the raised garden house. The fence is a
good specimen of the Fijian barriers placed around their gardens or plantations.
Waitovu Village, Ovalau, Fiji. The stone platforms on which the houses
are built are well shown. The wide spreading growth of the breadfruit tree, when
planted near the dwellings is seen in the upper part of the view. Photographed
by J. W. Lindt of Melbourne.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
Plate XIX.
PLATE XX.
Na Kali Village, Viti Levu Bay, Fiji. One of Lindt's most charming views.
The house occupies the entire extent of the stone platform, and shows the pent
over the doors, the steep log ladder at the water side, and the method of fastening
the thatch over the ridge pole. J. W. Lindt, Photo.
Doorway of a Fijian house, showing the fence to keep out small animals.
J. W. Lindt, Photo.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
PLATE XX.
PLATE XXI.
Maori carved house. The carved figures on the barge-boards are remarkable.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
Plate XXI.
PLATE XXII.
Pare from Runanga Whare, Morea, Lake Rotoiti. Museum No. 151 6.
Pair of Ama, Tarawera. Museum Ngawaewae from Tetaheko, Lake
Nos. 1418, 1419. Rotoiti. Museum No. 1415.
Mrmoirs Bishop Muskum, Vol. II.
Plate XXII.
PLATE XXIII.
New Hebridean Huts.
Memoirs Bishop Musrvm, Vol. II.
Platb XXIII.
'^ fr^^^^^^^^ f^ id -n^^^^^^^^^^^^F^^^BB^^^^^^^^^^^^^^B
^^^^^^^^^H^HK^^^V^^
^^^^^m_ ^. ^1^^ !
PLATE XXIV.
Front of communal house in British New Guinea. It is raised on piles as if
built in water.
Mkmoirs Bishop Museum, Vul. II.
Plate XXIV.
PLATE XXV.
High house in New Guinea Village.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
PLATE XXV.
PLATE XXVI.
Old Hawaiian house frame being rebuilt in the Bishop Museum. The tem-
porary supports are used instead of scaffolding owing to the stone floor on which
the house is placed.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
PLATE XXVI.
PLATE XXVII.
Hawaiian house in the Bishop Museum showing the beginning of the thatching
on the front side.
Memoirs Bishop Muskum, Vol. II.
Plate XxVlt.
PLATE XXVIII.
Hawaiian house in the Bishop Museum completed. Showing the bonneting
above the ridge-pole, and the hakakau.
Memoirs Bishop Museum. Vol. II.
Plate XX\^II.
PLATE XXIX.
Hawaiian Cords and Braids.
1 Aha hoa waa : coconut fibre braid used for attaching the outrigger to a canoe. 4749.
2 Coconut fibre two-ply cord used for koko umeke.
3 Coconut fibre braid used to fasten the upper parts of a canoe. 4750.
4 Coconut fibre braid from fine coil. 6842. See Fig. 70.
5 Coconut fibre braid. 4751.
6 Coconut fibre braid. 5038.
7 Coconut fibre braid. 4756.
8 Coconut fibre twist. 4756.
9 Olond square braid, used for strangling cord.
10 Olond square braid.
II
12 Ukiuki braid used in building house in Bishop Museum.
13 Human hair cord.
14 4759.
16 Olond fishing line. 3880.
17 Olond cord fishing line. 772.
18 4578.
19 Olond fine cord for mending umeke, etc. 7682.
20 Human hair square braid.
2c Human hair square braid used for necklaces, etc.
22 Olond flat braid for strangling cords.
Mbmoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
PLATE XXIX.
I 23 4 56789 10
II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
PLATE XXX.
Ipu holoi lima. Finger bowls.
Memoirs Bishop Museum. Vol. II.
Plate XXX.
PLATE XXXI.
Ipu aina or refuse bowls with human teeth or bones inserted as a mark of con-
tempt for the owner's enemies whose corpses furnished the teeth.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. 11.
Platb XXXI.
PLATE XXXII.
Ipu kuha. Spittoons.
Ipu mimi. Chamber pots.
Mbmoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
PLATE XXXII.
PLATE XXXIII.
Gourd bottles for holding fish lines.
Memoirs Bishop Mdseum, Vol. II.
Plate XXXIII.
PLATE XXXIV.
Hawaiian stirrers for sweet potato poi, and wooden knives (1178-79) for removing
the rind from breadfruit, etc.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
PLATE XXXIV.
PLATE XXXV.
Carved Hawaiian Figurks in the BritIvSh Museum.
A. Umeke supported on figures ; the contents can be emptied through the mouth
of one ot them.
B. Shallow bowl supported on the feet of three figures standing on their hands.
C. A figure connecting two small bowls.
D. Female figure on hands and toes, with uplifted head ; for a stool.
E. Umeke supported by two strangely deformed figures with brutal heads and
exaggerated mouths.
F. Spoon or ladle with carved handle.
Compare these figures with those shown in Part 2 of this volume.
MeMOIKS dlSHOP >iuSKUM. VOL. it.
Kate XXX V'.
PLATE XXXVI.
Na Ipu Pawkhe.
The upper figure represents the umeke pawehe ; the lower one the huewai
or water-bottles. The decoration on the bottle gourds shows little differentiation
between the two colors, making a photographic copy of the design difficult to obtain.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, \^ol. ll.
^LATE XXXVf.
PLATE XXXVII.
Carved Coconuts.
The upper group represents New Guinea carvings ; the lower, beginning on
the left hand, a Marquesan carved cup, a Fijian oil bottle and a Fijian cup.
Mf.moiks Bishop Museum. Vol. II.
PhAXM XXXVII.
PLATE XXXVIII.
Umeke Laau.
This fine umeke (No. 9530) is shown in plan and profile ; it is 20.7 inches
in diameter and 8 inches deep ; the rim is undercut, and the polish is the native.
Mrmoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
Plate XXXVIII.
PLATE XXXIX.
Umekes.
The upper figure represents Unieke No. 420, of kou, 20 inches in diameter
and 14 inches deep. The lower group shows various forms of unieke.
Memoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. II.
Plate XXXIX.
PLATE XL.
Umekes.
The upper figure is of an unieke in private hands; loaned by a former owner
for examination and illustration. The lower figure is No. 418 in the Museum.
It is from the Queen Emma collection, and is 69.5 inches in diameter and 6.2
inches deep.
Mrmoirs Bishop Museum, Vol. 11.
Plate XL.
iblications of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
A Handbook for tlie Blatiop Miuiettm. Oblong octavo^ 94 tiHU-totie illns^
tuitions. Price 25 CIS.* pit!»lax^ V ^^'
Occasional Papers, Vol, I. CktaFo.
No. t. IHreetor'd Keport, i§98« Visits I0 Hthuologieal iiiu^umj»
to a purticy arouml thf WT>rJd. f Out of print,]
No. a. Director^ 8 Ajintial Heport^ 1099< MaI Sails of the Pacific
—Stokes. Riiy->.kin Rasps — Walcotl, Note* on the Binb of Oiiliu— Sealc,
frioc 5r» cts. , postage 4 cts.
Hn ~ T>^^''^-tor*s Antitial Report, 1900. Visit to tlie Aznerican
mirv lilission 10 GLi:iUi — Sv.alc. Nt^les^ on the Binls of
Kyij i StTilf. Fricf f ».f.x>f j»«jstagc 8 cts>
No^ 4. New Hawaiian FUbes— St^ilc. Price 35 c tuts; postage a cl*»
No. 5* IHrector's Annaal Report, 1901, mnd Index to VoL I. Illtts-
Imlion^i of sfjcrm whiik- and bird groups. Prict? 50 cts., postage 4 cts*
Occasional Papers, Vol, II.
No, I, Wrector's Anntial Report, 1902. Noteworthy Ihiwuiiftu
Stunt* Inq^li tTirtiis- T;rk'li;i ill Fibres of the HiAwniiiiTi I-^l.mils — -Hlack-
mall. Di n of Achatiuella mu': Cookie*
Ihtoiiogniv nrytiti, Price |[.ou, ik)^*
No« 2. IHrector^s Annnai Report, 1903. R<?marks on Phallic
St<^ncs fnjtn RApaniu^. U. Young. Aboriginal Wooden Wc*ipons of
Anstratia— RUckmiin. Price 40 cts., postage 4 cts.
No* 3« Director's Anmtial Report, 1904, Australian Bark Canoe
— Brigliam* A St' .:er for Duelling— Brie ham. Not«^s on the
Rjrtl<v of ihc Wn! ntitidns — Brj^an. Additional Note!^ on the
Nest' '■ ' ■■ ti Owl— Bryan, r>escriplioii of tlitr Nrst
and virens (GmeLl — Bryan. Nottfs on the
Ami !' --" ^ Ir^ndRhV M- '' -h^ Wilder
— Bt 1. Twal ,i Nests
ami L^:- --^^. - - - .'.c 50 ct^.. ; \K.
No. 4. Director's Annual Report, 1905. ii&n
FiwhcS'^Bni^jn. Re^tort of a VisJit to Midway Ifili'. : l....-li. : .^Lof
IfiiWJtiiuti Hawk — Br)%in* Prict:5octs., post^ige jf cts.
No. s* Director's Annual Report, 19061 and Index to VoL D-
I>r. Cot>ke*» Report on Type* of Uawaitua l^nd Sbelln. Price 20 cl*,,
postiige 2 cts. ^
Oecnsional Papers, Vol, III,
No* I* Ri'print of Origiuiil I>eacripUo!i*i of A chit tint- lb. liv H. W.
Thwin^^ Pritre fis^^^f postage g cts*
Occasional PaperSi Vol. IV.
No. I. Fishes of the South Pacilic— -Scale. Price f 1.00, postage 5 cts,
MetnolfSt Vol. I. Qwiirto.
No. I, Hawaiian Feather Work* By \Vm, T. Brigtiam. Price
fa. 50. po&lagi! 1 4 cts.
No. 2. Index to the Islands of tlie Pacific. By Win. T. Brigham.
Pnce $i.$o, postage 20 cts.
No* 3. Key to tbe Birds of the Hawailaxi Gfoap* By Wtu.
At&naafi Bryan. Pri*?e fj.50* po^Uigc i^\ cltt.
No. 4. Ancieiit Hawaiian Stotie Impletnents, By Wm. T. Brig-
ham. Pricjr *-
No. 5. Buy
to Vol. I* ii>
Memoirs, VoL II,
Ko.r. ••
KctK ami
Age 20 cts*
t to Hawaiian Peatber Work, with Index
i. Bright m, Prioe 75 ttJt., postage "^ ^^
'^ :^Iat and Basket W '
Les* Price fi.oo, •
No. a. \fiG 11 u vv a 5 s an Carvings— Brij^^ 1 < n 1
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Price f 3^«3o, postngc ^5 c.
i n x :,< - cts., postage 5 c.
By Wm. T. Brighata,
n
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